OCHA Syria: Flash Update #01 - Disruption to Alouk Water Station, 28 April 2021

SYRIA

FLASH UPDATE #01

OCHA Disruption to Alouk Water Station

As of 28 April 2021

residents received no water from Alouk and were forced to rely on emergency water trucking and/or other sources of

potentially unsafe water, including local wells.

HUMANITARIAN IMPACT

An estimated over 460,000 people directly rely on Alouk water station for their daily needs, with an additional 500,000

people indirectly affected by the loss of water supply. Of note, vulnerable communities, such as those living in camps and

IDP settlements including Al Hol, are disproportionately affected by disruptions to essential services, including for reasons

due to dependance on camp services, lack of resources to pay for safe alternatives, and other factors including over-

crowded environments.

At the time of writing, much of north-east Syria, including Al-Hasakeh Governorate, remains in a COVID-19 preventive

lockdown in response to a reported significant and concerning increase of COVID-19 cases, including at Al Hol and Areesha

camps. Currently, there are no alternative safe sources of water, except for limited private water sold at a prohibitively high

cost. Reports indicate that when Alouk station is out of service, local communities are forced to resort to unsafe water

sources or reduce daily use. An ongoing fuel crisis across Syria has exacerbated lack of access to alternative sources, such

as water trucking. It is imperative for the safety and wellbeing of civilians that Alouk water station operates consistently and

at full capacity, particularly during the current COVID-19 pandemic.

HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE AND COORDINATION

At present, WASH sector partners across all response modalities are delivering approximately 3,231m3/day to

neighbourhoods in Al-Hasakeh city on a rotational basis. Partners are further exploring means to increase this capacity.

including through provision of water storage tanks. However, this is not a sustainable solution, and far below the approximate

4000m3/hour Alouk water station supplies when operating at full production capacity. While humanitarian partners have

initiated emergency stop-gap measures during all reported disruptions to Alouk, such as water trucking, this remains

infeasible in the long term, for reasons including: limited water available at the required volume; insufficient availability of

water trucking contractors and sector partners who can conduct emergency activities; and limited funding, which is not

always readily available to cover the emergency response.

High-level advocacy is ongoing with all relevant stakeholders to ensure rapid and sustained access for technical teams and

relevant humanitarian partners to Alouk water station and Derbasiyah electricity substation. In addition, humanitarian

partners continue to explore sustainable and long-term solutions to address the ongoing water shortages in Al-Hasakeh

and the broader area.

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