Lake Qaraoun ( / ALA-LC: Buḥayrat al-Qara‘ūn) is an artificial lake or reservoir located in the southern region of the Beqaa Valley, Lebanon. It was created near Qaraoun village in 1959 by building a concrete-faced rockfill dam (the largest dam in Lebanon) in the middle reaches of the Litani River (longest river in Lebanon). The reservoir has been used for hydropower generation (), domestic water supply, and for irrigation of . The annual surface water flow in the Litani River received at Lake Qaraoun is . This flow is used for generating hydroelectric power of 600 GWh at three hydroelectric power stations at Markaba, Awali and Jun with the total installed capacity of . During the dry season, of water is diverted from Markaba power station to meet the needs of the Kassmieh irrigation project. The lake is a habitat for some 20,000 migratory birds which visit it annually. Geography Note 420 million cubic meters is approximately 15 billion cubic feet or approximately 340,000 acre feet. The upper Litani River, where the artificial lake or reservoir has been created with the dam at elevation of about , is in the inland region of the Beqaa Valley, whose elevation range generally lies between , with mountain peaks raising as high as . The Litani River drains the southern end of the Beqaa Valley plains (a continuation of the Jordan Rift Valley), crossing the southern periphery of the Mount Lebanon range and discharging into the sea north of Tyre, after traversing a length of entirely in Lebanon. The hydrographical system of Lebanon consisting of 40 major streams is typecast into five regions, which includes the Litani River Basin formed by the Litani River in its eastern and southern part, with the river debouching into the sea at the southwestern end. The basin has a total catchment area of , which forms 20% area of the country, with about intercepted at Lake Qaraoun by El Qaroun Dam for providing various benefits. The artificial lake is created across the Litani River in its middle reaches. Litani River is the longest river in Lebanon at the southern end of the Beqaa valley. The Litani River, which lies entirely within the territory of Lebanon rises near the historic city of Baalbek (now the site hardly discernible due to high rate of water extraction in this reach for pumping and ancient city development) and flows through for