LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Figures
I.1 Agricultural lands in the Yemeni highlands (Dhala). Photograph courtesy of Helen Lackner.
1.1 Yemen’s old weathered geology, showing drainage systems and wind-eroded rocks (Jol plateau in Hadramawt). Photograph courtesy of Matthias Grueninger.
1.2 Average annual rainfall, period 1985 through 1991. ‘The Water Resources of Yemen: A Summary and Digest of Available Information’, Report WRAY-35, Sana’a, Republic of Yemen, March 1995.
1.3 Climate zones of Yemen. ‘The Water Resources of Yemen: A Summary and Digest of Available Information’, Report WRAY-35, Sana’a, Republic of Yemen, March 1995.
1.4 Topographic map of Yemen. ‘The Water Resources of Yemen: A Summary and Digest of Available Information’, Report WRAY-35, Sana’a, Republic of Yemen, March 1995.
1.5 The hand of man and woman has carved a viable economy and a picturesque countryside out of Yemen’s unpromising terrain (Al-Baraha village in the highlands). Photograph courtesy of Helen Lackner.
2.1 Self-confident and well-armed tribesmen attending a village wedding (near Kuhlan, Hajjah Governorate). Photograph courtesy of Peer Gatter.
2.2 Qat chewing in a traditional setting in the old city of Sana’a.Note the hubble-bubbles. Photograph courtesy of Peer Gatter.
3.1 The rise in incomes from the 1970s led to the rapid expansion of commercial crops, including the traditional Yemeni grape vine (Bani Hushaysh, near Sana’a). Photograph courtesy of Peer Gatter.
4.1 Wadis that carry huge spate flows for a few days a year may also have a much smaller permanent baseflow. Photograph courtesy of Dorte Verner.
4.2 Main surface water systems in Yemen. ‘The Water Resources of Yemen: A Summary and Digest of Available Information’, Report WRAY-35, Sana’a, Republic of Yemen, March 1995.
4.3 With the advent of the tubewell in the 1970s, groundwater abstraction increased very rapidly (Wadi Hadramawt). Photograph courtesy of Matthias Grueninger.
4.4 Changing groundwater levels in the Sana’a basin. ‘The Water Resources of Yemen: A Summary and Digest of Available Information’, Report WRAY-35, Sana’a, Republic of Yemen, March 1995.
5.1 A traditional village water cistern (Shihara). Photograph courtesy of Peer Gatter.
5.2 In this remote village, ancient terraces are still cultivated with cereals, but also nowadays with qat (Wadi Qadaha, Al-Mahweet Governorate). Photograph courtesy of Peer Gatter.
5.3 A hand-dug well in the Hadramawt. The gentle ‘phut-phut’ of the donkey engine is a pleasant sound on a hot afternoon. Photograph courtesy of Matthias Grueninger.
6.1 Yemenis have adapted rapidly from subsistence farming to commercial agriculture. Photograph courtesy of Dorte Verner.
6.2 Actual crop yields as a percentage of optimum. Ministry of Agriculture, Agricultural Statistics Yearbook 2007, Sana’a: Ministry of Agriculture, 2007.
6.3 Harvesting qat in the vast qat monoculture of Al Azraqayn in northern Hamdan. Photograph courtesy of Peer Gatter.
6.4 Ancient terraces capture run-off from the hillsides. Photograph courtesy of Gerhard Lichtenthaler.
6.5 Gabion baskets filled with stones are used to protect the wadi banks and improve spate irrigation (Wadi Hadramawt). Photograph courtesy of Matthias Grueninger.
6.6 This big groundwater irrigation scheme was developed by the government in Wadi Hadramawt to provide farms for poor people. Photograph courtesy of Matthias Grueninger.
6.7 Many new hill dams such as this one have been constructed but they often do not increase overall water availability or improve sustainability of the resource. Photograph courtesy of Gerhard Lichtenthaler.
6.8 Unusually among Yemenis, these farmers have adopted efficient drip irrigation – the drip lines are visible between the trees – which gives them more income and leisure for qat. Photograph courtesy of Gerhard Lichtenthaler.
6.9 ‘Qat palaces’ amidst qat fields (northern Hamdan district, along the Amran road). Photograph courtesy of Peer Gatter.
7.1 Women and girls may spend eight hours a day fetching water for the household. Photograph courtesy of Dorte Verner.
7.2 A covered communal water cistern in Bani Ismail. Photograph courtesy of Gerhard Lichtenthaler.
7.3 Rural water supply schemes have expanded rapidly, such as this one in Dhamar Governorate. Photograph courtesy of Helen Lackner.
7.4 Fog collection technology, such as this in Hajjah Governorate, can provide up to half a community’s water needs. Photograph courtesy of Matthias Leibrand.
7.5 Communal water cisterns, such as this one in Raymah, can be the most cost-effective and sustainable water source for mountain communities. Filtration can make the water fit for human consumption. Photograph courtesy of Helen Lackner.
8.1 More than half the water supplied in Sana’a, the country’s capital, comes from tankers that fill up at wells in the environs. Photograph courtesy of Matthias Grueninger.
8.2 Organization of water supply entities in Yemen.
8.3 Range of prevailing lifeline tariffs. Source: GTZ/KfW 2005.
8.4 Cost of water. Source: GTZ/KfW 2005.
8.5 Household water expenditure Ja’ar/Zinjibar.Source: GTZ/KfW 2005.
9.1 The tubewell provides water in abundance and on demand but often uses ‘fossil’ (non-renewable) groundwater – as here in Wadi Hadramawt – that will sooner or later be exhausted. Photograph courtesy of Matthias Grueninger.
9.2 Political will and administrative and legal capacity to prevent illegal drilling have been lacking, even when it is done within clear view of a main road. Photograph courtesy of Muhammad al-Hamdi.
9.3 The NWRA has a programme of public awareness and education. Here, schoolgirls learn concepts of sustainability at NWRA Sana’a branch. Photograph courtesy of Gerhard Lichtenthaler.
10.1 Qat is so profitable that it can justify irrigation by tanker, as here. Communities are increasingly faced by competition between private qat profits for a few and community needs for drinking water. Photograph courtesy of Gerhard Lichtenthaler.
11.1 Yemenis are gradually realizing the need for water conservation and management. Here a community protests against the drilling of a new well for qat. Photograph courtesy of Gerhard Lichtenthaler.
11.2 A community brings in NWRA to help stop illegal drilling. Photograph courtesy of Gerhard Lichtenthaler.
12.1 More efficient water use could maintain rural incomes and expand production of high-value crops (Samsarat al-Zabib, the ancient raisin market in the old city of Sana’a). Photograph courtesy of Peer Gatter.
12.2 A 13-year-old qat seller (left) with a customer of about the same age, in the Shumayla market. According to the World Health Organization, around 15–20 per cent of Yemeni children under the age of 12 chew qat. Photograph courtesy of Peer Gatter.
Tables
1.1 Geological formations and water-bearing potential.
4.1 Renewable water resources per capita.
4.2 Yemen water resources and use.
4.3 Estimates of mean annual run-off in the four major basins.
4.4 How much of Yemen’s rainfall flows in the wadis?
4.5 Porosity ranges.
4.6 Recharge and storage of Yemen’s aquifers.
6.1 Agro-ecological zones.
6.2 Domestic resource costs: crops with domestic resource costs of less than 0.
6.3 Crops with domestic resource costs of 0.5–1.0.
6.4 Planned versus actual yield increases under the Irrigation Improvement Programme.
7.1 Access to safe water supply and sanitation (2004 data).
7.2 The situation of rural people with and without improved water supply.
7.3 Factors reducing the risk of diarrhoea.
7.4 Rural school attendance and access to safe water.
7.5 Rural water Millennium Development Goals and NWSSIP targets.
7.6 Attitude to the six lagging reforms and relative strengths of stakeholders.
8.1 The Millennium Development Goals and NWSSIP I water supply coverage targets.
8.2 The Millennium Development Goals and NWSSIP I sanitation coverage targets.
8.3 Water supply coverage of the urban population.
8.4 Water supply and sanitation coverage: major cities.
8.5 Spending on urban water and sanitation 2005–7.
8.6 NWSSIP Update (2008) revised targets for urban population covered by water supply.
8.7 Urban population covered by sanitation.
8.8 Public sector investment in water and sanitation 2008–15 as proposed in the 2008 NWSSIP Update.
8.9 Ta’iz water supply: current supply and actual prices compared to desalinated water.
8.10 Daily supply and hours of service.
8.11 Performance indicators for selected utilities for 2007.
8.12 Percentage of those in Ibb ‘not connected’ who would be happy to pay charges to get connected.
8.13 Average time taken by customers to pay their water bill at Ibb Local Corporation.
8.14 Reasons for not connecting to sanitation.
8.15 Share of water and sanitation as a percentage of household expenditure of the poor in Sana’a.
8.16 Water and qat as a share (percentage) of household monthly expenditures.
9.1 Illustrative schematic water balance for Yemen.
9.2 IWRM in Yemen: achievements, trajectory and relevance.
11.1 Monitoring and managing groundwater: visibility and implications for local management and public interventions.
Boxes
2.1 The spice trade and the civilizations of ancient South Arabia.
4.1 Near-death by spate in the Tehama.
4.2 Groundwater: the predominant freshwater resource of the world.
4.3 The three aquifer types.
5.1 Historical spate management in Wadi Zabid.
5.2 An ancient qanat system near Sana’a.
6.1 Groundwater replaces water harvesting in the Sa’ada basin – but is now itself ailing.
6.2 Wadi Dahr – adjusting from spring to tubewell.
6.3 Traditional spate water management in Wadi Hadramawt.
6.4 Qat and supplemental irrigation as a coping strategy.
6.5 NWSSIP’s three-part solution.
6.6 In Wadi ‘Arafa, the Groundwater & Soil Conservation Project (GSCP) contributes to water saving – but lack of knowledge keeps productivity below potential.
6.7 A useful rule of thumb for evaluating the financial benefits of water saving.
6.8 Irrigation efficiency subsidies slow adoption of drip technology.
6.9 Qat and groundwater.
6.10 The diesel price rise bites in Sa’ada.
6.11 The challenge of improving the returns to water in agriculture: farmers in Lahej explain the difficulty of getting more ‘income per drop’.
6.12 Water user associations in Yemen are of various types.
6.13 Beit ‘Ithrib Water User Association.
6.14 Water user associations and water management.
6.15 There is a need to verify water savings.
6.16 Powerful interests in Abs.
6.17 The rich get richer…
7.1 How the poorest pay more for water.
7.2 Malaria risks may be associated with rural water supply.
7.3 Women are not included in society here!
7.4 At Seihan al U’sh, women run the water supply scheme themselves.
7.5 Community self-help: the case of Al-Sinah.
7.6 Why the Social Fund (SFD) stopped doing pumped water projects.
7.7 Fog water collection.
7.8 Communal cisterns and karif.
7.9 Dams as a source of community water supply: the al-Baidha experience.
7.10 Institutional capacity for managing rural water is vital to scheme sustainability.
7.11 The factors that helped Al-Sinah to build social capital.
7.12 High-cost rural water supply creates tensions within a Manakha community.
7.13 Water consumption dropped in Marawea’a when diesel prices went up.
7.14 The NWSSIP action plan for sustainable quality water sources.
7.15 Water-related health problems in Wadi Rasyan, Ta’iz Governorate.
7.16 Implementing the new rural water supply and sanitation strategy in Abyan.
7.17 Good management and political influence help a rural water project at Ja’ar to succeed.
8.1 NWSSIP I: Urban water supply and sanitation reform measures.
8.2 Alternative ways to increase access in Sana’a.
8.3 In Sana’a, there is low confidence in the tap water – despite good quality in tests.
8.4 In Sana’a, expanding the network on soft loan terms would raise tariffs sharply – but could be more equitable.
8.5 Rooftop rainwater harvesting: a breakthrough for Yemen’s water-stressed cities?
8.6 Bad blood over rural–urban water transfer in the Ta’iz area.
8.7 Failing to attract international water companies, Yemen finds ‘small is beautiful’.
8.8 Partnership with the local private sector in Ibb.
8.9 Service, charity – and corrupt regulation at a water purification shop in Ibb.
8.10 Private water providers in Sana’a have old issues with the public sector.
8.11 Output-based aid as an innovative solution to water supply at al-Qabel.
8.12 Performance at Mahweet.
8.13 Despite the high cost, the Mahweet Tourist Hotel is happy with the network service.
8.14 Even a good outreach programme cannot compensate for poor service.
8.15 Even in Sana’a, management effort can improve performance.
8.16 At Ibb LC, progress in applying the tools for management purposes is uneven.
8.17 Salaries are boosted by allowances – and incentives are rapidly incorporated into the salary.
8.18 Utilities do not always get the tariff adjustment they request.
8.19 Business customers in two districts of Ibb.
8.20 In Mahweet, businessmen are concerned about poor service not price.
8.21 The Sana’a business dilemma.
8.22 Problems with utility governance at Ibb.
8.23 Private sector provides free water for the poor in Sana’a.
8.24 Girls spend up to half a day to get the minimum of water.
9.1 Integrated water resources management (IWRM).
9.2 The Sana’a and Sa’ada basin committees: equal commitment, contrasting styles.
9.3 Mandate of the Sana’a basin committee.
9.4 In Ta’iz, the committees lack control over the resources needed to implement an integrated basin plan.
9.5 A stakeholder conference made recommendations for empowering the Sana’a basin committee and making it more representative.
9.6 Recommendations on basin planning for Sana’a made at the stakeholder conference at the completion of the Sana’a Basin Water Management Project 1.
9.7 Flagrant drilling violations in the Sana’a basin.
9.8 Implementing NWSSIP in Abyan.
9.9 The banana growers of Abyan prevent restrictions on water use.
9.10 WSSP: a new approach to integrated planning and resource allocation.
10.1 For centuries, strict rules have governed water management in Wadi Dahr.
10.2 In Wadi Zabid, downstream farmers are in conflict with upstreamers.
10.3 Bloody conflict of traditional Wadi al-Jawf spate rules with modernization.
10.4 Sheikhs adjudicate a water dispute in Wadi Dahr.
10.5 Growing water sales in the Ta’iz area raise questions of equity.
10.6 Upstream prospers but the downstream area is desolate and angry in Wadi Bani Khawlan.
10.7 Urban water needs lead to the drying up and pauperization of al-Haima.
10.8 Water and land disputes leave many dead.
10.9 Construction of dams leads to disputes at Hobah and Shahik.
10.10 Wadi Habir resists surrendering its water to urban use.
10.11 Water management disputes reflect political divisions in al-Kareefah.
10.12 Rules of water allocation established by the Irrigation Council in Wadi Tuban.
10.13 Examples of successful community initiatives.
11.1 Integrating promotion of community groundwater management in the large ongoing irrigation programmes.
11.2 A ‘toolkit’ of good practices and options for supporting community water management.
11.3 Participatory Water Assessments: getting started in eight steps.
11.4 Andhra Pradesh Farmer Management Groundwater Systems Project (APFAMGS) shows that farmers can reduce groundwater use and still earn higher incomes.
12.1 Lessons of the Sana’a Basin Water Management Project – support community water governance.
12.2 Good practice delivery of rural water and sanitation.
Diagram