BEIRUT -- Lebanon has always been blessed with rich water resources. But now because of wastage and inefficient management of supplies, the country faces a serious water shortage by 2025, experts have warned.

An official from a Beirut-based UN agency said the waste of water had reached a "massive" level and threatens to create a long-term shortage.

According to the agency, the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), there are currently 2,854 million cubic meters (100,788 million cubic feet) of usable water in Lebanon. A large amount of that, 600 million cubic meters, is in underground reserves.

Comparatively, the Lebanese people consumed 1,412 million cubic meters of water in 2000, mostly on agriculture, but also more than 20 percent for domestic use, and the rest on industry.

"Demand will reach 4,000 million cubic meters in 2025, leaving the country lacking some 1,000 million cubic meters, especially if (all) arable lands are used," for farming, AFP quoted the UN official as saying.

Much of the water is wasted or made unusable by contamination due to the use of pesticides, out-dated irrigation methods and industrial pollution.

ESCWA is currently working on a project to revise the price of water, which in Lebanon and many other Arab countries is lower than the cost of treating and delivering it.

"Only 40 percent of Lebanese pay for their water and the income is not enough to cover operation and maintenance costs," the official explained.

To try and head off any shortage, the government in 1999 laid out a 10-year plan to improve water management.

The plan aims to update and extend the water delivery system, build additional dams to increase storage capacity, and set up water treatment plants.

"The cost of this project, passed in 2000 is around two billion dollars," said Fadi Comair, head of the Hydraulic Resources and Electricity Ministry.

Two weeks ago, France agreed to provide a 12 million euro (dollar) soft loan to fund and build two water supply networks for south Lebanon in the regions of Nabatiyeh and Hasbaya.

Lebanon's current water delivery network, much of it built during the French mandate from 1920-1943, will require other projects like this in order to ensure a more even distribution of water.

Dams across the country have a capacity of 850 million cubic meters, but much more storage capacity is needed to ensure that rainwater is stored more effectively.

The plan aims to build 30 additional dams, and three have already been contracted out to companies, including the Shabruh Dam to be built by a French-Lebanese consortium and which will have a capacity of 11 million cubic meters.

The largest existing dam, Qaraoun, has a capacity of 220 million cubic meters, and regulates the flow of water down the Litani River that spans Lebanon before pouring into the Mediterranean.

It also generates electricity and provides water to irrigate the fertile Bekaa valley.

Lebanon's traditionally rich reserves are often eyed by its neighbors in a region where water is a key strategic resource.