A United Nations Development Programme feature on Machghara cites a local historical account recorded in Sheikh Hussein Ahmad Al Khushn’s book “Machghara in History.” According to that account, the town is more than 1,100 years old and was once known as “Mougra.” The publication does not establish an exact foundation date, so the year 900 is used on the timeline only as an approximate marker of antiquity, not as a documented founding year.
The same account links the town’s present name to the abundance and force of its water. It refers to a statement attributed to Prince Haydar Al Chahaby in a narrative about the strong flow from the Al Tannour, Al Dayaah, Al Knisseh, and Abou Zaid springs. The source notes that “mashghar” may have Phoenician or Arabic roots and concludes that, in the town’s context, it conveys the meaning of a strong and abundant flow of water.
Machghara’s springs remain central to local life and are used mainly for agriculture. The figures published by UNDP state that agricultural land accounts for roughly thirty percent of the town’s area and that more than 2,250 people depend on farming as their primary source of income.
Fruit trees dominate production, with apples representing about eighty percent, alongside grapes, olives, cherries, and pears. Winter crops, particularly barley and wheat, are also cultivated.
The irrigation system, however, had suffered from serious deterioration. Parts of the mixed earthen and concrete canal network were around fifty years old and lost substantial amounts of water through seepage. Although the municipality had renovated some canals about a decade before the UNDP feature and continued basic maintenance, the system still failed to deliver enough water to the fields.
Pressure on the water network increased as displaced Syrians settled in the town, especially during summer and the irrigation season from April through September. During periods of high demand, the combined springs were no longer sufficient to irrigate all agricultural land.
To address the shortage, Lebanon’s Ministry of Energy and Water and UNDP, with funding from the Government of Germany and KfW, constructed or rehabilitated more than eleven kilometers of irrigation canals. The project increased irrigation supply, expanded the area that could be watered, reduced farmers’ expenditure on purchased water, and created jobs benefiting Lebanese residents and Syrian refugees. In this way, a modern development project reinforced the historical narrative that places abundant water at the heart of Machghara’s name and identity.