FAO-backed repairs on Mashqita’s MC1 canal to revive Latakia citrus

Rehabilitation work is underway on the MC1 canal linked to Mashqita Dam in rural Latakia after repeated earthquake damage and landslides left sections of the canal and culverts unusable. The stoppages have direct consequences for irrigation across roughly 10,000 hectares of farmland in a governorate that supplies about 77% of Syria’s citrus — some 31,000 hectares and over 10 million trees — and supports tens of thousands of families. The canal was out of use during the 2025 irrigation season after stored water at Mashqita Dam was redirected to meet drinking-water needs; the dam has a capacity of about 210 million cubic meters.

Rehabilitation and plans

The Water Resources Directorate in Latakia, with technical and financial cooperation from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, is carrying out repairs including emergency fixes in 2024 and the installation of roughly 100 linear meters of box culvert before the next irrigation season. Work also covers pumping stations (including Difeh and al-Shalfatiyah, the latter serving about 6,000 hectares), replacement of damaged irrigation lines, tank repairs, and plans to replace old asbestos pipes with polyethylene, expand drip irrigation, and modernize pumping stations. The directorate says it will continue phased rehabilitation into 2027 — targeting additional canal sections, siphons in the Tarjano project and stations such as al-Huwayz — while promoting water-user associations and small water collection measures to reduce losses and stabilize citrus production, as reported by Enab Baladi