Water crisis fuels Yemen’s many woes

Sanaa, Yemen (UPI) Jun 9, 2010 – Two people were killed recently in a dispute over water rights in Yemen where extreme water scarcity is arguably the violence-plagued country’s greatest crisis.

With the ancient capital, Sanaa, expected to run dry in a few years, water shortages are stirring popular discontent and fueling growing political unrest in the country that lies at the southwestern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. The government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, preoccupied with a simmering tribal rebellion in the north, an increasingly violent secessionist movement in the south, al-Qaida terrorism, a faltering economy and fast-disappearing oil reserves, appears to be helpless in the face of this accumulation of adversity. If the country collapses, it would have strategic repercussions around the entire region, including providing a breeding ground and sanctuary for al-Qaida adjacent to Saudi Arabia, the world’s leading oil producer. The killings in southern district of Shara’ab in May resulted from a standoff between security forces and villagers who wanted to drill a new well because others were running dry. Government regulations introduced to deal with the water crisis prohibit well-drilling without official approval. The dispute was eventually settled but it was only one of several such clashes over water wells that have flared in recent months as the drought-worsened water shortage intensified in impoverished Yemen. “It’s a collapse with social, economic and environmental aspects,” says Water and Environment Minister Abdul Rahman al-Iryani. “We’re reaching a point where we don’t even know if the interventions we’re proposing will save the situation.” The crisis stems from a woeful lack of water management, reckless water usage and climate change. This has been exacerbated by Yemen’s rapidly growing population, a major problem faced by governments across the Middle East. Yemen’s population has quadrupled over the last 50 years to around 23 million. That’s expected to triple again to 60 million by 2015. …