Flood management planning in Ras Baalbek and Qa’a, Lebanon –Climate change and socio-economic integration

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), through its Regional Office for West Asia (ROWA), is seeking a qualified consultancy firm to implement a comprehensive flood management planning initiative in Ras Baalbek and Qa’a, Lebanon, under the Al Murunah project. This initiative is part of the broader FCDO-funded programme, “Building Climate Resilience through Enhanced Water Security in MENA,” which aims to strengthen regional capacities for sustainable water management by integrating Nature-Based Solutions for Water (NBSW) and Agricultural Water Management (AWM) approaches.

The consultancy’s overarching objective is to integrate climate change scenarios and socio-economic dimensions into flood management planning, building on the completed scoping phase for the Baalbek basin (covering approximately 250 km²). The work will refine existing hydrological and hydraulic models, evaluate flood mitigation interventions, and engage key local stakeholders to ensure that technical outputs are grounded in practical governance and community realities.

The assignment is structured around six main tasks.
Task 1 focuses on refining existing HEC-RAS and HEC-HMS models to incorporate downscaled climate projection data for temperature and precipitation under two future climate scenarios (SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5). This will involve updating model calibration, reassessing flood-prone areas, and producing high-resolution flood hazard maps based on detailed digital elevation models (DEM 5x5m or better).

Task 2 entails assessing the impact of the already designed flood management interventions—specifically, gabion walls and pond cleaning—on flood behavior using the updated models. Task 3 introduces a socio-economic component, including vulnerability assessments, analysis of past flood impacts on livelihoods and infrastructure, and cost-benefit evaluations of the proposed interventions.

Task 4 will convene a one-day stakeholder dialogue workshop in Beirut with around 35 participants, including community representatives, municipal authorities, and technical partners. This dialogue will identify barriers in current governance systems, propose institutional adjustments for improved disaster preparedness, and generate recommendations that inform Task 5, the development of a Climate Change Adaptation Roadmap. The roadmap will prioritize short-, medium-, and long-term measures that combine environmental sustainability, economic feasibility, and social equity. It will also include a monitoring framework and a concise visual summary highlighting synergies among adaptation pathways.

Task 6 focuses on capacity building, through the preparation of flood management training materials targeting municipal engineers, planning authorities, and water establishment staff. These materials will strengthen understanding of hydrological modelling, social risk analysis, and sustainability planning for flood control interventions.

The consultancy is expected to be completed within four months from the date of signing, with nine key deliverables including inception and analysis reports, refined models and maps, workshop outputs, and the final adaptation roadmap. Payments will be released in two installments: 50% upon completion of initial deliverables (1–5) and 50% upon completion of the remaining outputs (6–9).

The selected team should include a Project Manager with at least 12 years of experience in water management and demonstrated expertise in the Lebanese water sector, and a Hydrologist with 10 years of experience in hydrological modelling and HEC-RAS/HEC-HMS proficiency. The consultancy will report directly to IUCN’s Water & Climate Change Programme team.