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Pumping Yemen Dry: A History of Yemen’s Water Crisis

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Abstract

Yemen, located on the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula, is one of the most water-scarce countries in the world. Quite apart from the continuing catastrophic conflict, the massive overdraw of existing groundwater due to unregulated drilling of tube wells since the 1970s has created a major water crisis that affects the future of the county’s estimated 28 million people. While once known for its rich traditions of agriculture due to its extensive highland terrace systems, spate flow and runoff water harvesting, Yemen is now food insecure, relying almost entirely on food imports. This article surveys the range of water resources in Yemen and their sustainability in light of climate change predictions. I examined government and development aid reports to highlight the causes of the water crisis and the failure of previous governments to resolve it. The situation is even more critical today, given the ongoing war between a Saudi-led coalition and a Huthi alliance that has created one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. I conclude with priorities for mitigating the water crisis and promoting sustainable agriculture for Yemen’s post-conflict future.

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Notes

  1. One of the most important resources for analysis of the water crisis in Yemen is the work of Christopher Ward (2014). For details on the water issue in the Yemen Arab Republic, see Barbarossa and Fuhriman (1977), Laredo et al. (1986), Merabet (1980); for the Republic of Yemen after 1990, see Lichtenthaeler (2016), World Bank (2005a, 2005b).

  2. The Arabic term “sayf” generally refers to summer in the four-season model, but in Yemen it has traditionally been used to denote a season in spring.

  3. My translation from the Arabic. For details on Yemeni agriculture at this time, see Varisco (2009). See Hehmeyer (2018) for a recent study of irrigation in Yemen during the Islamic era.

  4. The most recent data set can be found on the website of the World Bank (http://sdwebx.worldbank.org/climateportal/countryprofile/home.cfm?page=country_profile&CCode=YEM&ThisTab=ClimateBaseline). This database contains estimates of rainfall for various parts of Yemen from 1901 to 2015. For information on climate modeling in Yemen, see Wilby and Yu (2013).

  5. It should be noted that for most of Yemen evapotranspiration exceeds rainfall, especially in the Ṣan‘ā’ basin (Laredo et al.1986:44, 67).

  6. This is also the case for Oman. In 2012 the annual precipitation was only 75.1 mm while in 2013 this rose to 139.2 mm (Sultanate of Oman 2017:41).

  7. Storms, though rare, could be heavy at times. In December 1842, floods from rainfall on the surrounding slopes of the port destroyed buildings and swept people and animals into the sea (Ahroni 1994:35).

  8. The Arabic term wādī refers to a watercourse with seasonal flow. In the Tihāma these are, from north to south, Mawr, Surdūd, Sihām, Rima‘, Zabīd, Rasyān, and Mawza‘. For details on spate irrigation in the Tihāma, see Shaybani (2003) and Serjeant (1964). Merabet (1980:37–55) describes some of the early feasibility studies for irrigation expansion along the Tihāma wadis.

  9. For details on Wadi Tuban, which drains towards the Gulf of Aden, see Maktari (1971) and Bahamish (2004).

  10. For information on the Wadi Ḥaḍramawt area, see Baquhaizel et al. (2011); details on traditional irrigation are provided by Rodionov (1999) and Serjeant (1988, 1964).

  11. For an overview of both diversion structure and storage dams, see Charbonnier (2011).

  12. For an assessment of these early efforts, see Mundy (1985). Bahamish (2004) provides a critical review of the spate system along the dams in Wadi Zabīd.

  13. As early as 1980 Merabet (1980:36) warned: “Furthermore, as a result of the experience gained from the operation of irrigation projects such as those of Wadi Surdud and Wadi Zabid, it has been recommended that future projects should not develop major irrigation works based on large weirs and concrete canals.”

  14. The same report notes that an FAO project in 2002/2003 trained local farmers to use the stems for fuelwood and the pods for animal feed as a source of income.

  15. For details on the historic Ma’rib dam, see Brunner (2000), Brunner and Haefner (1986), Harrower (2016) and Maraqten (2017).

  16. Serjeant (1988:149) reports a similar problem with a dam built in Jīzān on the Saudi coast, where the large reservoir created had intense evaporation and total water availability was reduced.

  17. For a discussion of irrigation in Wadi Ẓahr in the 1930s, see Rossi in Varisco (2018:26–31); also Mundy (1995) for an ethnographic study of Wadi Ẓahr with details on irrigation.

  18. For details on Islamic and customary water law in Yemen, see Varisco (1982:224–261) and Maktari (1971).

  19. In the Ṣan‘ā’ basin the fossil water in the Tawilah Sandstone aquifer is said to be up to 20,000 years old (Laredo et al.1986:68).

  20. Data taken from FAO AQUASTAT, http://www.fao.org/nr/water/aquastat/data/query/results.html.

  21. al-Hamdi (2000) provides a detailed assessment of water use in the Ṣan‘ā’ basin.

  22. Kopp (1981:51, 252) estimated that it had dropped to 30–40 m in 1973 and noted that the groundwater level was losing 1–5 m per year.

  23. Martha Mundy, personal communication. She cites a report stating that “… the Sanaa basin could not support rapid urban development because of water constraints but that it had been suppressed by political/commercial interests who had a stake in the land values of the capital.”

  24. From a statement by the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Yemen: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-blockade/three-yemen-cities-run-out-of-clean-water-due-to-lack-of-fuel-for-pumps-icrc-idUSKBN1DH1Q2.

  25. Major hydrological research was carried out by DHV Consultants (1993) in the Ṣa‘da basin in the 1980s and 1990s.

  26. According to the World Bank, some women and girls spend up to seven hours a day transporting water (World Bank 1997:3). It is also important to recognize the role that women play in traditional agriculture, which “is largely unacknowledged in government statistics and decision-making” (ROY 2012:21; see also Adra 2013).

  27. This is not a problem unique to Yemen (Arafa et al.2007:6).

  28. Saudi bombing has also destroyed public water systems, including an attack in February 2016, on a reservoir serving 30,000 Yemenis (Mohamed et al.2017:5).

  29. In her survey of the water sector, Merabet (1980:127–137) listed 31 separate donors relating to water projects at that point. These include various agencies of the UN, the World Bank and organizations or institutions from Britain, China, France, Germany, Iraq, Japan, Kuwait, Russia and the USSR, the Netherlands, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, UAE, USA.

  30. For specific recommendations on improving Yemen’s water policy, see Abu-Taleb and Calkins (2009), al-Hamdi (2000:167–173); Laredo et al. (1986); ROY (2012:54–55); Ward (2015); World Bank (2017, 2015, 1997).

  31. In less than a year during the current conflict over one million cases of cholera were reported in Yemen by WHO with well over 2000 deaths verified. The WHO website (http://www.emro.who.int/countries/yem/index.html) provides up-to-date figures on victims of disease in Yemen.

  32. The 2012 National Agriculture Sector Strategy placed this at 30% (ROY 2012:18). Claims of up to 70% in secondary reports (e.g., Giesecke 2012:2) are highly exaggerated. For an analysis of irrigation of qāt, see al-Hamdi (2000:99–102). It is important to note that about 15% of the population benefits directly or indirectly from qāt production (Lichtenthaeler 2010:31).

  33. “Under irrigation, qāt can be made to bud during any but the two coldest months of the year; and prices are highest in the winter months when rain-fed qāt is not available in quantity in the market” (Mundy 1995:65).

  34. The reform of Islamic and traditional water law has been recognized by the World Bank (1997:8).

  35. As the World Bank (2015:77) reports, “Among poor Yemenis, who mostly live in rural areas, agriculture is particularly important as a source of food and income. The agricultural sector is also a key factor in efforts to reduce internal migration and related social and economic problems. The youthful age structure of the country means that many more jobs will be needed, and agriculture offers important opportunities for boosting employment, productivity, and income.”

  36. The one functioning desalination plant near Mocha was bombed in January 2016 (Clifford and Triebert 2016).

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Acknowledgements

I thank Dr. Andre Gingrich, Dr. Noura Kamal, Dr. Martha Mundy, and Dr. Eirik Hovden for their comments on drafts of this article.

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  1. Annemarie Schimmel Kolleg, Bonn University, Heussallee 18-24, 53113, Bonn, Germany

    Daniel Varisco

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Varisco, D. Pumping Yemen Dry: A History of Yemen’s Water Crisis. Hum Ecol 47, 317–329 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-019-0070-y

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