Covering 60 square miles near Aleppo Lake al-Jabbul is Syria's largest lake. The large, shallow body of salt water is an important staging and breeding site for many water birds in the Middle East. Site description A large, shallow salt-lake in a closed basin of c.37,500 ha, lying just south of Jabbul village, 35 km east-south-east of Halab (Aleppo). In the 1970s the lake was filled entirely by local run-off of winter/spring rainfall and its extent was highly variable from year to year, reaching a maximum of c.3,000 ha and with at least a little standing water at most times of the year. A levée built on the east side by the 1970s prevented flooding of the majority of the salt-flat in the east of the basin. However, in 1988 large, new irrigation projects on the nearby steppe started discharging surplus water into the lake on a substantial scale; it is not known how saline the inflow is nor whether it is seasonal or perennial. This appears to have led to a higher and more stable water level than in the past, since the lake currently measures up to 20 km long and 5 km wide (c.10,000 ha), and although in the 1970s the flat and sandy banks had little or no marginal vegetation, they are now locally lined by extensive Phragmites reedbeds, on the southern and south-eastern shores at least. At least two large islands are created at times of high flooding. Around the lake shore there is turf, close-cropped by sheep. The surrounding steppe has a sparse shrubland of Haloxylon and Artemisia. Primary uses of the area are salt extraction, wildfowl hunting, and livestock grazing on the surrounding steppe by nomadic pastoralists; in the 1970s the sabkhah to the east was an artillery firing range.
In the Jabbul area in Syria, marginal quality water in two forms, namely irrigation drainage water and an unplanned mixture of irrigation drainage water and untreated wastewater is used for irrigation by the farmers. Though mainly used to supplement the irrigation water requirements, this marginal quality water is also used for full irrigation in some of the water scarce areas on the downstream side, which are not serviced with the canal network for instance to the downstream of Sfireh. The Jabbul area receives an average annual precipitation of between 200 and 350 mm per annum, another push factor for the use of marginal quality water. The bulk of the untreated wastewater originates from the town of Sfireh with a population of about 100,000. Only part of this water flow is being extracted by the farmers, yet most of it flows directly into the Sabkhat Al-Jabbul, a saline wetland selected as a Ramsar site in 1998, and supposed to be a protected area. The sabkah with a total area of about 270 km2 is located 35 km to the southeast of the city of Aleppo. The study aimed at carrying out an assessment of the sources and qualities of the water both being abstracted by the farmers in the area around the Sfireh and also the water draining to the lake. The study also aimed at investigating the perceptions of the different stakeholders regarding the use of marginal quality water for agriculture and its disposal into the Ramsar site. These insights together with results of water quality monitoring led to suggestions for improvements in the use of such water in the area. The research was carried out between September 2006 and mid-December 2006. It commenced with 26 rapid interviews, carried out in the 4 main farming areas namely the area around Sfireh, to the northwest of the Sabkhat-Al-Jabbul; Dayr Hafir to the immediate northeast of the wetland; around Al-Jabbul village to the immediate north of the lake and Al Bab to the further north of the wetland. A visit was made to a sugar beet industry to the eastern side of the sabkah where a number of field measurements and observations were
One of few wetlands in Syria, Sabkhat al-Jabbul Nature Reserve near Aleppo is a large, permanent saline lake surrounded by semi-arid steppe. The lake is an important staging and wintering area for large numbers of waterbirds and for globally threatened species. The lake supports more than 1% of the world population of Greater Flamingo. The lake’s banks are not yet rich with vegetation; it is therefore not suitable for cormorants, herons or egrets. Within the site, land use is limited to salt production. The surrounding areas are used primarily for agriculture and livestock grazing. The lake has been identified as an Important Bird Area. Threats to the site are due to the lack of awareness in the local communities of the importance of the wetland, and the lack of staff trained in wetland management. The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands came into force for the Syrian Arab Republic on 5 July 1998. Syria presently has 1 site designated as a Wetland of International Importance, with a surface area of 10,000 hectares.
