The post-war drama of Syria – destroyed and dried out

For several decades, Syria has been experiencing increasingly frequent and longer periods of drought, which today already affect more than 80% of citizens. The country, struggling to rebuild after the devastation of war, is among the hardest hit by climate change. Rivers and lakes are drying up, in many places taps remain empty, and people suffer from hunger.

Drought in Syria keeps deepening

Although after fourteen years the intensity of armed conflict in Syria has subsided, peace has not brought healing. The land is devastated, society impoverished, and water severely lacking. The main cause of the deficit is climate change – it reduces rainfall and snow cover in the mountains along the border with Lebanon.

In May this year, the Ain al-Fijah spring, which feeds the Barada River and provides water for about 5 million residents of Damascus and surrounding areas, dried up completely for the first time in thirty years. In some districts of the city, water supply operated only 1.5 hours a day. Tankers selling water from independent wells drove through the streets of the Syrian capital.

The supply of other Syrian rivers depends largely on Lebanon’s water resources, where the situation is also difficult. The Lebanese Karaun reservoir, which usually holds around 350 million m³ of water, retained only 45 million m³ during this year’s rainy season, according to a representative of the Litani River National Authority. The Orontes River, originating in Lebanon and flowing through Syria’s Idlib province, has dried up completely, leaving thousands of dead fish in its bed.

The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reports that in the first quarter of 2025, Syria received only 94.9 mm of rainfall – just 57% of the long-term average for this period.

Drought in Syria – the tragedy of farmers

This year’s drought in Syria has reached unprecedented proportions. Mostafa Summaq, head of water resources in Idlib, warned that water in wells dropped by 10 meters within three months. A spatial analysis prepared by FAO shows a dramatic decline in the land vegetation cover index over the past three years.

According to The Associated Press, wheat yields are up to four times lower than usual, and employment during harvest has dropped by more than half. A representative of Syria’s Ministry of Agriculture said that before the war, farmers produced 3.5–4.5 million tons of wheat annually, enough to meet domestic food needs. During the war, production fell to 2.2–2.6 million tons, and this year it is estimated at about 1 million tons.

The Syrian portal Syria Direct quotes farmers who this year gave up planting potatoes, tomatoes, or eggplants altogether, focusing only on wheat watered sporadically by rainfall. It’s a zero season, they say of this summer.

At risk are not only this year’s grain and vegetable harvests but also Syria’s decades-old orchards, which can no longer be irrigated. These orchards provide society with citrus fruits, apples, pistachios, olives, figs, and apricots. The World Food Program warns that already today, the food security of half of Syria’s citizens is endangered.

Humanitarian disaster

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) warns that more than 16 million Syrians are in urgent need of assistance, especially in access to drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene. The country’s public infrastructure is in critical condition, and after the driest winter since 1958, nearly the entire nation is plunged into a deep water crisis.

According to the IFRC, drought in Syria seriously threatens 75% of agricultural crops and livestock. Feed prices have already risen by 100–300%, while herd sizes have dropped by 40%. Millions of families not only lack access to safe water but also face the specter of hunger and a health catastrophe linked to the absence of basic hygiene.

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main photo credit: Mahmoud Sulaiman/Unsplash