12 square km, was created by the Litani River Dam, 60 meters high and 1,350 meters in length, which was completed in 1959. A spillway of 6503 meters carries the water to the underground station where generators produce a maximum of 185 megawatts of electricity, the largest hydroelectric project in Lebanon. The dam was intended eventually to provide irrigation for 310 km² of farmland in South Lebanon and 80 km² in the Beqaa Valley. The office is at the southern (dam) end of the lake on the left side. The lakeside has a hotel and a number of restaurants specializing in fresh trout. The Litani River Authority The Litani River Authority was formed in 1954 to facilitate the integrated development of the Litani River Basin. Shortly after its formation, the authority engaged in a massive hydroelectric development project that tapped the 850 meter head potential between Lake Qaraoun and the Mediterranean. This development has brought about major hydrological changes to the Litani River Basin, where the flows from its upper reaches above Lake Qaraoun, referred to as the Upper Litani Basin, are diverted through a system of tunnels, ponds and plants, to meet the Mediterranean several kilometers north of its original natural tailwater. These changes have resulted in the effective hydrological separation between the Upper Litani Basin and the lower reaches. The advent of a protracted civil strife in the 1970s followed by a prolonged occupation in the 1980s that lasted into the 1990s, have plunged the country into disarray, freezing development and investment in infrastructure. The subsequent return to normal conditions has encouraged the river authority to initiate several major water diversion projects from the Upper Litani Basin worth hundreds of millions of US dollars. Bridges over the Litani (Jisr means bridge in Arabic) Jisr el Kasmieh (Leontes Bridge) Jisr el Akai Jisr el Khardali Jisr el Khatueh (Kakhieh) Jisr el Burghuz Jisr el Meshghara Jisr el Karaoum See also Battle of the Litani River (1941), during the Second World War, between Allied forces and Vichy French troops Operation Litani, 1978 Israeli invasion of Southern Lebanon Citations General and cited references Ramadan, H. H., Beighley, R. E. and Ramamurthy, A. S. (2013). "Temperature and precipitation trends in Lebanon's largest river: the Litani Basin”, American Society of Civil Engineers, Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, 139 (1), pp. 86–95. Ramadan, H.H., Ramamurthy, A.S., and Beighley, R.E (2012). "Inter-annual temperature