Lake Qaraoun is the largest body of water within Lebanon. The artificial lake is located in the Beqaa Valley, the most important agricultural area in the country. To create the lake, engineers dammed Lebanon’s longest river, the Latani River, near the village of Qaraoun in 1959. The reservoir provides hydroelectricity and water to nearby municipalities and farms. In its early years, the lake blossomed into a popular area for tourists and local and migratory animals. Sadly, in the last few years, Lake Qaraoun has been threatened by severe pollution challenges that diverse stakeholders are pushing to address.
Lebanese Arabic Transcript and English Contextual Translation
1
مرحبا وأهلا وسهلا فيكن بحقلة جديدة من لانغويج ويف، أنا نعيم واليوم حنتعرف على بحيرة القرعون، وهي أكبر بحيرة بلبنان، موجودة بمنطقة البقاع الغربي. البحيرة يلي عمرا أكتر من ستين سنة، بقيت نضيفة فترة طويلة، لكن من كم سنة تغيرت بسبب التلوث، حنحكي أكتر عنا بهيدي الحلقة.
Hello and welcome to a new episode on Language Wave. I am Naim, and today we will get to know Lake Qaraoun, which is the largest lake in Lebanon, located in the western Beqaa region. The lake, which is more than 60 years old, remained clean for a long period. However, it changed several years ago due to pollution. We will talk more about it in this episode.
2
أول مرة سمعت ببحيرة القرعون سنة 2002، وقتا أخدونا رحلة بالمدرسة أنا ورفقاتي لهونيك، وبعدني لهلأ بتذكر هيداك النهار يلي تعرفت فيه على البحيرة. يومتها انطلقنا بالباص من بيروت عالبقاع، وبعد حوالي ساعة ونص وصلنا. وأول شي ملفت كان لون المي الأزرق، يلي بيمتد على مساحات واسعة بين سلسلة الجبال الغربية والشرقية للبنان.
The first time I heard about Lake Qaraoun was in 2002. Back then, they took us there on a trip in school along with my friends. I still remember that day on which I got to know the lake. On that day, we set off by bus from Beirut to Bekaa, and after about an hour and a half we arrived. The first striking thing was the color of the blue water, which stretches over wide areas between the western and eastern mountain ranges of Lebanon.