[Evaluating sea water quality in the coastal zone of North Lebanon using Telemac-2D[TM]]

ABSTRACT

The coastal zones of the Mediterranean are undergoing rapid development with growing and conflicting demands on the natural resources. Coastal zones are often subjected to irreversible land degradation and environmental deterioration. Lebanon is located in the eastern part of the Mediterranean basin and the integrated management of the environment in the Lebanese coastal zone must be given concern. Most of the successful decisions addressing the environment protection or the elaboration of preventive measures in the coastal zone. These decisions depend on the availability of efficient simulation tools. The existence of these tools can help protecting the environment and establishing the ground for sustainable natural resources in the coastal zones. In this paper, a simulation tool called Telemac-2D[TM] software was used to simulate the business as usual, pessimistic, and optimistic status of the sea water quality in the coastal zone of Tripoli [North Lebanon]. The coastal zone is affected by the effluents of solid and liquid wastes from Abou-Ali river. The different quality states of the coastal zone represent the normal, high, and low flow of the effluents [plume pollutants] from Abou-Ali river. In addition, it represents the variation of different factors such as wind and sea currents speed and direction. This simulation will help the decision makers to implement pre-cautious measures before a disaster takes place by assessing the quality of the sea water near the coastal zones