Rehabilitation work continues on the main MC1 canal linked to the Mashqita Dam in rural Latakia (western Syria), as the citrus sector along Syria’s coast depends on stable irrigation networks after years of declining production, drought, and damage to the governorate’s water infrastructure.
According to previous data from the Latakia Agriculture Directorate, the governorate accounts for about 77% of citrus cultivation in Syria, with more than 10 million trees that provide a source of income for about 44,000 families, while irrigation networks face growing challenges linked to technical damage and declining water resources.
Damage After the 2023 Earthquake
The Water Resources Directorate in Latakia told Enab Baladi, in response to questions, that the canal sustained repeated damage after the 2023 earthquake, including cavities and landslides in the damat area along nearly 200 meters, in addition to damage to parts of the culvert, causing the canal to go out of service during some periods.
According to the directorate, any stoppage in part of the canal directly affects the irrigation of about 10,000 hectares of farmland connected to the Mashqita Dam.
The directorate added that its teams carried out emergency maintenance on the canal twice during 2024, after faults it described as urgent, in an effort to maintain stable water flow and prevent irrigation networks from stopping.
Irrigation Networks and Citrus
The agricultural areas fed by the canal include large villages in rural Latakia that rely mainly on citrus cultivation, one of the most prominent agricultural crops on the Syrian coast.
The director of the Citrus Office at the Ministry of Agriculture, Hatem Majar, previously told Enab Baladi that citrus production in Syria had declined by 38.2% compared with the average of the past 10 years, affected by economic and climate factors, as well as drought and the falling levels of dams used for irrigation.
Estimates by the Latakia Agriculture Directorate indicate that the governorate includes about 31,000 hectares planted with citrus, in addition to more than 10.2 million trees that provide a source of income for tens of thousands of families.
Priority for Drinking Water
The Water Resources Directorate said the canal was not used during the 2025 irrigation season because the water stored in Mashqita Dam was allocated to support drinking water through the filtration station, amid increasing pressure on water resources and declining levels in some irrigation sources.
Mashqita Dam is one of the largest dams in Latakia governorate, with a storage capacity of up to 210 million cubic meters. It serves wide irrigation networks in addition to its role in securing drinking water.
Rehabilitation Projects Supported by FAO
The current rehabilitation work includes treating about 100 linear meters of the canal with a box culvert, to be completed before the start of the irrigation season, with plans to expand to additional sites where new cavities have been detected.
The project is being implemented in cooperation with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), through a contracted company and under technical supervision from the Water Resources Directorate, as part of projects that also include rehabilitating pumping stations, irrigation lines, and water tanks in the governorate.
According to the directorate, cooperation with the organization includes completing work at the Difeh pumping station and rehabilitating the al-Shalfatiyah pumping station, which serves about 6,000 hectares, in addition to replacing damaged parts of irrigation lines and increasing the capacity of some tanks damaged by the earthquake.
Irrigation Plans for the 2027 Season
The Water Resources Directorate told Enab Baladi about proposed projects for the 2027 season, including completing the rehabilitation of additional parts of the MC1 canal, maintaining the fifth, sixth, and seventh siphons in the Tarjano Dam project, and rehabilitating new pumping stations, most notably the al-Huwayz station.
The directorate said its current plan focuses on rehabilitating damaged networks and replacing the most worn-out sections, while expanding modern irrigation systems to reduce water loss and improve the stability of agricultural production.
According to the directorate, plans include replacing old asbestos pipes with higher-efficiency polyethylene networks, expanding drip irrigation networks, and rehabilitating old pumping stations according to modern technical standards.
The directorate is also working to establish water user associations to involve beneficiaries in managing and maintaining irrigation networks, while studying the implementation of small water barriers and collection tanks to make use of available water resources for irrigation and to confront fires and drought.
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