Saudi-European Parliamentary Friendship Committee discusses cooperation during Strasbourg visit    Diriyah to host third IMFC Deputies meeting under Saudi chairmanship    15,135 decisions taken to penalize Saudis and expats for violations    Saudi stock market loses half a trillion riyals, with Aramco's losses amounting to SR340 billion Tariff turmoil rattles Gulf markets    KAU to host Digital Communication Conference in Jeddah from April 29 to May 1    TGA: Riyadh tops with 45% of 290 million orders delivered in 2024    Aja and Salma mountains draw nature lovers to Hail's rugged landscapes    US revokes all visas for South Sudanese nationals over deportation dispute    Death toll from Myanmar earthquake rises to 3,471    Macron to hold Gaza summit with Egypt and Jordan in Cairo    Benzema rescues Al Ittihad with stoppage-time equalizer in thrilling Jeddah Derby    Al Qadsiah and Al Ettifaq share spoils in tense Eastern Derby stalemate    Moussa Diaby praises Al Ittihad's resilience after Jeddah Derby draw "When you can't win, you take a point"    Saudi assistant referee Iman Al Madani joins AFC elite list for 2025    Riyadh Art Week launches with over 50 galleries showcasing global artistic dialogue    Turki Al-Sheikh announces five new Saudi film projects to be produced in Riyadh    Saudi Ministry of Education to showcase innovations at 2025 Geneva International Exhibition    Ed Sheeran weaves Persian music into new song, Azizam    Al-Jadaan: Crown Prince's directives confirm government's ability to bring back balance to real estate market    Veteran Bollywood actor Manoj Kumar dies at 87    Screen time in bed linked to insomnia, study finds    Bollywood actress vindicated over boyfriend's death after media hounding    Grand Mufti rules against posting prayers and preaching in mosques on social media    King Salman prays for peace and stability for Palestinians in Ramadan message King reaffirms Saudi Arabia's commitment to serving the Two Holy Mosques and pilgrims    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Acute water crisis threatens Yemenis
By Alistair Lyon
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 31 - 08 - 2009

GENTLE showers temporarily damp the dust and cool the August heat of Sanaa, but cannot remedy a grim water outlook for the Yemeni capital's two million people.
Some residents receive piped city water only once every nine days and others get none at all. The sinking water table means the municipality can now operate only 80 of its 180 wells, said Naji Abu Hatim, a Yemeni expert at the World Bank. “People don't believe the magnitude of the problem. But water is Yemen's number one problem,” he said.
That might seem a startling claim given that the country is also grappling with a tribal revolt in the north, violent unrest in the south, Al-Qaeda militancy and widespread poverty.
But water shortages in the southern city of Aden are already fueling violence. One person was shot dead and three were wounded, two of them police, during water protests on Aug. 24.
And fast-depleting aquifers make Yemen's plight the starkest in a desperately water-scarce region. Local disputes over water rights may turn violent, especially in tribal areas. Competition for supplies between cities and the countryside may sharpen.
“Yemen's water share per capita is under 100 cubic meters a year, compared to the water poverty line of 1,000 cubic meters,” said Hosny Khordagui, Cairo-based head of the UN Development Program's water governance program in Arab countries.
Arab states, except Egypt, Iraq and Lebanon, all fall short of the water poverty line and the regional trend, blamed on climate change, is toward consistently lower rainfall.
Unlike wealthy Gulf oil states, Yemen, the Arab world's poorest country, is ill-placed to fill the gap between supply and demand with desalination. “They are thinking of it, but economically I very much doubt they can do it,” Khordagui said.
Desalinating seawater and pumping it 2,000 meters uphill to the inland capital would be hugely expensive. Water could be transferred to Sanaa from another basin, but this might spark conflict with nearby provinces that are also parched.
“One idea, which is politically unacceptable, is to move the capital elsewhere. I don't see it happening,” Khordagui said.
Sanaa, 50 years ago a sleepy, walled town of perhaps 50,000, is among the world's fastest-growing cities, with a population exploding at an estimated 8 percent a year, according to the World Bank, of which 5 percent is due to rural migration.
Water scarcity is forcing many poorer villagers to sell up and move to Yemen's cities, where few have the skills to thrive, even though they are expected to send money home to relatives. From the 1970s, Yemenis turned swiftly from rain-fed farming to irrigation using water pumped from new tube wells, encouraged by the government and foreign donors keen to expand production.
“Finally they found irrigated agriculture was unsustainable because of the depletion of groundwater,” Abu Hatim said.
Agriculture sucks up more than 90 percent of water used and a third of that goes to irrigate fields of qat, a mild narcotic intrinsic to the daily social life of most Yemenis.
Mismanagement of water resources is one reason why Yemen's plight is worse than that of neighbors such as Oman, argues Jac van der Gun, director of the International Groundwater Resources Assessment Center in The Netherlands.
Both countries have dwindling oil resources, but Oman's oil wealth is shared among only three million, compared to Yemen's population of 23 million, which is set to double in 20 years.
“Oman is a positive example of stability and charismatic leadership, so it is much easier for them to control their water problems. Yemen is not anarchic, but it comes close,” he said.
Van der Gun cited the troubled northern province of Saada, the bastion of Shiite tribesmen whose intermittent rebellion against the government flared into fierce battles this month. “Saada has a huge water problem, but they can't think about the future because they are thinking about today,” he added.
Despite the afternoon downpours in Sanaa, Yemen's northern highlands have been suffering a two-year drought. “The rains this year have been poor and late,” said Ramon Scoble, a water expert for the German development agency GTZ who works in Amran province, just north of the capital.
“Rural sectors of north Yemen may face famine,” he said, echoing a warning sounded in June by Abdul-Karim Al-Iryani, senior political adviser to President Ali Abdullah Saleh. “They won't be producing their own foodstuffs for another year and they won't have harvested enough seed to be able to grow again next year,” Scoble said.
The government, backed by foreign donors, began applying a comprehensive strategy for water resources, irrigation, water supply, the environment and capacity building in 2005. But experts describe implementation as patchy.
The World Bank's Abu Hatim said the program was a palliative measure. “It will not solve the problems, only alleviate them to buy time. The catastrophe is coming, but we don't know when.”


Clic here to read the story from its source.