Great Man-Made River
{{short description|Network of pipes that supplies water to the north of Libya}}
File:Great Man Made River schematic EN.svg
The Great Man-Made River (GMMR, {{langx|ar|النهر الصناعي العظيم|an-nahr aṣ-ṣināʿiyy al-ʿaẓīm}}, {{langx|it|Grande fiume artificiale}}) is a network of pipes that supplies fresh water obtained from the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System fossil aquifer across Libya. It is the world's largest irrigation project.[http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/2008/default.aspx Guinness World Records 2008 Book] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924024138/http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/2008/default.aspx |date=2015-09-24 }}. {{ISBN|978-1-904994-18-3}} The project utilizes a pipeline system that pumps water from the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System from southern Libya to cities in the populous Libyan northern Mediterranean coast including Tripoli and Benghazi. The water covers a distance of up to 1,600 kilometers and provides 70% of all fresh water used in Libya.{{cite web|url=https://en.qantara.de/content/libyas-great-man-made-river-irrigation-project-the-eighth-wonder-of-the-world|title=The Eighth Wonder of the World?|author=Moutaz Ali|year=2017|website=Quantara.de|access-date=2019-11-30|archive-date=2021-12-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211219152751/https://en.qantara.de/content/libyas-great-man-made-river-irrigation-project-the-eighth-wonder-of-the-world|url-status=live}}
According to the project's website, it is the largest underground network of pipes ({{convert|2820|km}})Keys, D., 2011, Libya Tale of Two Fundamentally Different Cities, BBC Knowledge Asia Edition, Vol.3 Issue 7 and aqueducts in the world. It consists of more than 1,300 wells, most more than 500 m deep, and supplies 6,500,000 m3 of fresh water per day to the cities of Tripoli, Benghazi, Sirte and elsewhere in Libya. The late Libyan Leader Muammar Gaddafi described it as the "Eighth Wonder of the World".{{Cite web |url=http://www.water-technology.net/projects/gmr/ |title=Water-Technology |access-date=2004-10-14 |archive-date=2020-08-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200816232713/https://www.water-technology.net/projects/gmr/ |url-status=live }}
History
File:GrandOmarMukhtar ASTER 20060410.jpg of the Grand Omar Mukhtar reservoir project south of Benghazi. Water (dark blue) residing in reservoirs appears twice in this image, in the upper right and at the bottom. Vegetation appears red, cityscape structures such as pavement and buildings appear in gray, bare ground appears tan or beige.]]
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In 1953, efforts to find oil in southern Libya led to the discovery of large quantities of potable fossil water underground. The Great Man-Made River Project (GMRP) was conceived in the late 1960s and work on the project began in 1984. The project's construction was divided into five phases. The first phase required 85 million m³ of excavation and was inaugurated on 28 August 1991. The second phase (dubbed First water to Tripoli) was inaugurated on 1 September 1996.
The project is owned by the Great Man-Made River Project Authority and was funded by the Gaddafi government. The primary contractor for the first phases was Dong Ah Consortium (a South Korean company) and the present main contractor is Al Nahr Company Ltd.
Imported goods which were destined for use in the construction of the GMR were made in Korea and Europe (mainly in Italy) and arrived by sea via the entry port of Brega (Gulf of Sidra). Cathodic corrosion protection on the pipeline was supplied by an Australian company, AMAC Corrosion Protection, based in Melbourne and delivered via the port of Benghazi.Hands-on; AMAC's Purchasing Manager. The rest of the material was made in Libya.
The total cost of the GMRP was projected at more than US$25 billion.{{cite web|last=Scholl|first=Adam|title=Map Room: Hidden Waters|url=http://www.worldpolicy.org/journal/winter2012/map-room|publisher=World Policy Journal|access-date=19 December 2012|archive-date=30 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211030012853/http://worldpolicy.org/2013/09/12/map-room-anonymous/|url-status=dead}} Libya has completed the work to date{{when|date=June 2022}} without the financial support of major countries or loans from world banks. Since 1990, UNESCO has provided training to engineers and technicians involved with the project.
The fossil aquifer from which this water is being supplied is the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System. It accumulated during the last ice age and is not currently being replenished. If 2007 rates of retrieval are not increased, the water could last a thousand years.[http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200701/seas.beneath.the.sands.htm Article from Saudi Aramco] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140805112417/http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200701/seas.beneath.the.sands.htm |date=2014-08-05 }} January/February 2007{{Cite web |url=http://na.unep.net/atlas/webatlas.php?id=377 |title=UN Environment Program |access-date=2009-07-14 |archive-date=2012-03-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319035150/http://na.unep.net/atlas/webatlas.php?id=377 |url-status=live }} Other estimates indicate that the aquifer could be depleted of water in as soon as 60 to 100 years.{{Cite web |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2010/0823/Libya-s-Qaddafi-taps-fossil-water-to-irrigate-desert-farms/%28page%29/2 |title=Libya's Qaddafi taps 'fossil water' to irrigate desert farms - CSMonitor.com |website=The Christian Science Monitor |access-date=2011-12-13 |archive-date=2013-03-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130323064417/http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2010/0823/Libya-s-Qaddafi-taps-fossil-water-to-irrigate-desert-farms/(page)/2 |url-status=live }} Analysts say that the costs of the $25 billion groundwater extraction system are 10% those of desalination.{{Cite web |url=http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/04/01/libya/ |title=Colonel Qaddafi and the Great Man-made River – Water Matters - State of the Planet |access-date=2011-12-13 |archive-date=2013-09-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130906071630/http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/04/01/libya/ |url-status=live }}
In this project 1 billion euros were invested for the installation of 50,000 artificial palm trees for water condensation. This project was carried out by the Spanish engineer Antonio Ibáñez de Alba.{{Cite news|url=https://elpais.com/diario/1990/01/20/internacional/632790016_850215.html|title=La conquista del desierto|date=1990-01-20|work=EL PAÍS|access-date=2017-09-04|language=es|archive-date=2017-09-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170903163600/https://elpais.com/diario/1990/01/20/internacional/632790016_850215.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/madrid/abc/1990/09/15/048.html|title=ABC (Madrid) - 15/09/1990, p. 48 - ABC.es Hemeroteca|website=hemeroteca.abc.es|language=es|access-date=2017-09-04|archive-date=2017-09-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170903164745/http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/madrid/abc/1990/09/15/048.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg12717273-700-technology-plastic-trees-may-turn-the-deserts-green/|title=Technology: Plastic trees may turn the deserts green|work=New Scientist|access-date=2017-09-04|language=en-US|archive-date=2017-09-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170902002322/https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg12717273-700-technology-plastic-trees-may-turn-the-deserts-green/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.elmundo.es/ariadna/2002/101/1026372058.html|title=Cómo inventar y vivir de ello en España.A R I A D N A-101|website=www.elmundo.es|access-date=2017-09-04|archive-date=2017-08-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170824134256/http://www.elmundo.es/ariadna/2002/101/1026372058.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=54gyRnhIugkC&q=antonio+iba%C3%B1ez+de+alba&pg=PA111|title=Peoples on the Move: Introducing the Nomads of the World|last=Phillips|first=David J.|date=2001|publisher=William Carey Library|isbn=9780878083527|language=en|access-date=2020-11-11|archive-date=2024-05-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240530221332/https://books.google.com/books?id=54gyRnhIugkC&q=antonio+iba%C3%B1ez+de+alba&pg=PA111#v=snippet&q=antonio%20iba%C3%B1ez%20de%20alba&f=false|url-status=live}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eGohBQAAQBAJ&q=antonio+iba%C3%B1ez+de+alba&pg=PA309|title=Advanced Materials 1991-1992: I. Source Book|last=Binner|first=J.|date=2013-10-22|publisher=Elsevier|isbn=9781483294001|language=en|access-date=2020-11-11|archive-date=2024-05-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240530221333/https://books.google.com/books?id=eGohBQAAQBAJ&q=antonio+iba%C3%B1ez+de+alba&pg=PA309#v=snippet&q=antonio%20iba%C3%B1ez%20de%20alba&f=false|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://es.finance.yahoo.com/noticias/antonio-ibanez-de-alba-el-inventor-obsesionado-con-evitar-los-ahogamientos-155605887.html|title=Antonio Ibáñez de Alba, el inventor obsesionado con evitar los ahogamientos|access-date=2017-09-04|language=es-ES|archive-date=2017-09-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170901115545/https://es.finance.yahoo.com/noticias/antonio-ibanez-de-alba-el-inventor-obsesionado-con-evitar-los-ahogamientos-155605887.html|url-status=live}}
On 22 July 2011, during the First Libyan Civil War and the foreign military intervention, one of the two plants making pipes for the project, the Brega Plant, was hit by a NATO air strike.{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-libya-strike-idUSTRE76L5I020110722?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews|title=Libya says six killed in airstrike near Brega|author1=Missy Ryan|author2=Giles Elgoodl|author3=Tim Pearce|publisher=Reuters|date=22 July 2013|access-date=5 July 2021|archive-date=24 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924154310/http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/22/us-libya-strike-idUSTRE76L5I020110722?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews|url-status=live}} At a press conference on 26 July, NATO claimed that rockets had been fired from within the plant area, and that military materiel, including multiple rocket launchers, was stored there according to intelligence findings, presenting two photos of an BM-21 MRL as sole evidence for the destruction of the factory. The evidence for a potential UN resolutions breach has been insufficient.{{cite web|url=http://humanrightsinvestigations.org/2011/07/27/great-man-made-river-nato-bombs/|title=NATO bombs the Great Man-Made River|publisher=Human Rights Investigations Blog|date=27 July 2013|access-date=25 October 2011|archive-date=7 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150607090824/http://humanrightsinvestigations.org/2011/07/27/great-man-made-river-nato-bombs/|url-status=usurped}}
During the Second Libyan Civil War from 2014 to 2020, the water infrastructure suffered neglect and occasional breakdowns. As of July 2019, 101 of 479 wells on the western pipeline system had been dismantled.[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-libya-security-water-insight-idUSKCN1TX0KQ In battle for Libya's oil, water becomes a casualty] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210718185516/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-libya-security-water-insight-idUSKCN1TX0KQ |date=2021-07-18 }}. Reuters. 2019-07-02.
On 10 April 2020, a station controlling water flow to Tripoli and neighboring towns was seized by an unknown armed group. The flow of water was cut to over two million people as a result, and as such the attack was condemned by the United Nations on humanitarian grounds.{{Cite web |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/04/condemns-water-cutoff-libyan-capital-tripoli-200411000610599.html |title=UN condemns water cutoff to Libyan capital Tripoli |date=2020-04-10 |website=www.aljazeera.com |access-date=2020-04-12 |archive-date=2020-04-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200411224719/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/04/condemns-water-cutoff-libyan-capital-tripoli-200411000610599.html |url-status=live }}
Timeline
- 3 October 1983: The General People's Congress held an extraordinary session to draft the resolutions of the Basic People's Congresses, which decided to fund and execute the Great Man-Made River Project.
- 28 August 1984: Muammar Gaddafi laid the foundation stone in Sarir area for the commencement of the construction of the Great Man-Made River Project.
- 28 August 1986: Muammar Gaddafi inaugurated the Brega plant for the production of the pre-stressed concrete cylinder pipes, which are considered the largest pipes made with pre-stressed steel wire (the majority of steel wire was made in Italy by the Redaelli Tecna S.p.A. company with its head office in Cologno Monzese-Milan and its factory in Caivano-Naples). The Sarir plant was also inaugurated on this date.
- 26 August 1989: Muammar Gaddafi laid the foundation stone for phase two of the Great Man-Made River Project.
= First water arrival =
- 11 September 1989: to Ajdabiya reservoir.
- 28 September 1989: to Grand Omar Muktar reservoir.
- 4 September 1991: to Ghardabiya reservoir.
- 28 August 1996: to Tripoli.
- 28 September 2007: to Gharyan.
Gallery
File:Great Manmade River. Libya.jpg|GMMR - 20 dinar note (2002)
File:Great Manmade River.png|GMMRA logo
File:The Great Man - River Builder.jpg|Stamp commemorating Gaddafi as "River Builder"
See also
{{portal|Libya|Water}}
- Center pivot irrigation
- Dragon's Breath Cave: another fossil water store in an arid area in Africa
- Qanat
- Water transfer to central Iranian plateau
References
{{Reflist|2}}
Additional sources
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4814988.stm BBC News: Libya's thirst for 'fossil water'] (article contains map of pipe network)
- [https://www.britannica.com/topic/Great-Man-Made-River Project article at Encyclopædia Britannica]
- [http://www.tekfeninsaat.com.tr/#/en/projects/al-khufra-tazerbo-water-conveyance-system TEKFEN İNŞAAT official article]
External links
{{commons category|Great Manmade River}}
- [http://www-naweb.iaea.org/napc/ih/IHS_projects_nubian.html Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System Project] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120504161139/http://www-naweb.iaea.org/napc/ih/IHS_projects_nubian.html |date=2012-05-04 }} Joint project of IAEA UNDP and GEF about the Great Manmade River logistics.
- [http://www.unesco.org/water/ihp/prizes/great_man/index.shtml Great Man-Made River International Water Prize]
- [http://www.algaddafi.org/the-great-man-made-river-gmmr---main-page Great Man-Made River website at AlGaddaf.org] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130304145054/http://www.algaddafi.org/the-great-man-made-river-gmmr---main-page |date=2013-03-04 }}
{{Libya topics}}
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