The report's objective is to analyze key issues and constraints facing the sector, and propose a set of recommendations and possible areas of support by the World BankHowever, several data gaps exist. Many technical estimates are thus preliminary and incorporate a high degree of uncertainty due to the limited data. Water resources management issues pertaining to international rivers are not discussed. Urban water and sanitation issues are also not addressed in this report (this has been dealt with in an earlier Bank sector note (1999)). The first draft of this report was extensively discussed at a national stakeholder workshop in Damascus, Syria, in April 2000. The workshop participants supported the analysis, the findings, and recommendations of the report and the program proposed for future cooperation with Syria in the sector. This report incorporates the comments received during the workshop and during discussions with Syrian government oficials. This report is organized as follows: The introductory chapter describes the agricultural context. This is followed by a review of the key issues in irigation and water resources management. The third chapter presents an overview of the institutional and legal framework and sector organization. The final chapter discusses the future strategy for the sector and identifies future areas for potential Bank cooperation.