Libya is one of the most reliant countries in the world on aquifers as they provide its only source of fresh water. Muammar Qaddafi, Prime Minister of Libya (1962-2011), aimed to secure the provision of water for all Libyans by starting the Great Man-Made River Project in the 1980s - it has been described by Libyans as the ‘eighth wonder of the world.’ The project has made Libya a leader in hydro engineering as it supplies over 6,500,000m3 of fresh water per day to the countries major cities. Scientists have, however, warned that it is likely to only be a temporary solution as the aquifer’s supplies are hard to quantify and alternative solutions need to be found for the future. In light of such analysis and considering the many years and vast sum of £20 billion invested in the development of this water project, it will be key to ensure that Libya’s water is used with maximum efficiency.
A topic that is often found at the heart of the majority of international water conflicts is that of equitable allocation. This is especially true in countries such as Libya where most of its fresh water is from a shared resource, NSAS. From Figure 3 it is clear that both Libya and Egypt are major extractors. This has raised concerns about whether this is detrimental to Sudan and Chad’s possibilities of extraction. When one country is using a greater proportion of the resource than the other, conflicts can arise.
Figure 3: Relationship between total extraction and projected period of extraction from NSAS
Hey Hannah! Thanks for the interesting post. It's of particular interest to me, as I have spent a significant time of my life living in Tripoli, Libya. Subsequently all my drinking water and domestic water supply came from the "Great Man-Made River". I've experienced the way the country is using this fossil water supply and it shocked me - water is for example wasted greening areas that are a natural desert, with most of the water ultimately lost to evapotranspiration. You highlighted in the last post that the transboundary draw-down effects of their use of the Nubian aquifer is minimal - so the local effects within the country are probably the most important. The drying of oases in the desert may impact the population living there - do you know of any groups (sedentary or nomadic) that are reliant on these desert oasis for sustaining their livelihoods?
ReplyDeleteHey LouLou, thank you so much for your feedback and question! In answer to your question, yes, there could be a significant impact for the nomadic groups living in the north east of Africa. For example, there are over 20,000 Tuareg people living in Libya who rely on oases for their water supply, the lack of water available in the desert is already the biggest challenge they face. The disappearance of these water sources has meant the Tuareg have to compete with southern farming communities for water and this has led to tensions and clashes between these communities. The challenges of finding fresh water for the nomadic people in the North East of Africa will only worsen as drawdown occurs and it becomes harder to reach and extract water.
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