By: Usama Farhan
Taiz City in southwestern Yemen has witnessed a continued blockade for eight years. The siege was not only imposed on its geography but also on its water sources.
Almost 80 percent of water wells have become inaccessible for residents of the Taiz city since the war broke out in 2015 because they are located in frontlines or in proximity to warfronts.
All the main fields that provide Taiz City with water, especially the two main fields, “Al-Hawjala field and Al-Dabab field,” which are located near the front lines, have been out of order to date.
Prior the current conflict, Taiz City relied on 88 water wells. These wells are located in four main fields. The first field is the Al-Hawajla and Al-Amrah, which contains 18 wells with a production capacity of 7 million liters per day.
The second field is Al-Dhabab, which contains nine wells with a productivity of 4 million liters daily. The third field Al-Haima and Habir includes 23 wells, producing about four to five million liters daily. The fourth field is Al-Madina’s emergency wells, comprising 38 wells, 17 near the front lines.
Those are the main fields that used to supply Taiz City with water, and they are all located on the city’s borders – except 21 wells, according to Director of the Water and Sanitation Corporation in Taiz Governorate, Sameer Abdel Wahed.
In a conversation with Al-Mushahid, Abdel Wahed said, “The main fields have stopped pumping water into the city because of the unjust war in the country and because these wells are located on the frontlines. The Al-Hawjala, Al-Amrah fields and the Al-Dabab fields have stopped pumping water to this day, causing the city to lose about 79% of its total water supply per day.”
Abdel Wahed indicated, “The field of Al-Haima and Habir, located in the Houthi-controlled areas east of the city, is a safe field in which most of the wells had been rehabilitated by UNICEF in 2018 with the generators and pumps required to restart it. But the water pipes from this field to the reservoirs inside the city still require repairs.”
Mediation for pumping water
Muhammad Al-Huraibi, the media assistant at the Saba Youth Foundation for Development, told Al-Mahshid that the foundation is leading local mediation to pump water for all residents in Taiz province.
This mediation is continuing between the two parties – the Houthi group and the Yemeni government – to pump water from wells to reservoirs, and from there to all citizens’ homes in all parts of the province, according to Al-Huraibi.
He added, “The success of mediation in pumping water will greatly alleviate the suffering of citizens and end the difficulty of water access.”
Disucussions are underway to resume water pumping from 51 wells located near the front lines, which both sides do not use them, according to Abdel Wahed.
If the talks succeed, the water will be pumped into the reservoirs located in the city center and will be distributed to the various regions of Taiz, including the eastern parts of Al-Hawban..
“We and all humanitarian organizations sought to neutralize these sites from the conflict and to re-pump water from them, whether into the city or the areas under the Houthi control, but this has not been achieved until today. We insist and try to find a solution,” Abdul Wahid said.
Mediation for water and peace
Mediation for “water” is closely related to local peace-building efforts, promoting understanding, reconciliation, and effective dialogue.
Maha Aoun, the head of the Kayan Foundation for Peace and Development, said that mediation is one of the most important tools that help achieve peace in certain locations because it works to build trust among parties and build effective solutions that greatly concern society.
In a conversation with Al-Mushahid, Aoun added, “The water issue is a common problem for the two administrations in Taiz City and Al-Hawban (Governmment and Houthis). If we can bring the two parties together to one dialogue table, this will contribute to reviving cooperation between them.”
Aoun indicated, “Cooperation between the two parties on providing water will be reflected on other administrative levels. When reconciliation succeeds in making some services available, this will provide an appropriate environment through which citizens and parties realize the importance of understanding and coexistence with other parties. Such a matter will be reflected on peace processes positively and effectively.”
Mediation in the water issue will pave the way for greater understanding and reconciliation at the level of major issues, including curbing the conflict and strengthening comprehensive peace processes in Yemen, according to Aoun.
Community activist Marseille Al-Assali said, “Mediation promotes coexistence and peace, reduces gaps among warring parties, and creates trust, even at a minimum level. This is what will result if mediation succeeds in pumping Al-Hawban water to Taiz City.”
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Water scarcity
Taiz residents suffer from water scarcity and the difficulty of fetching it through mobile tanks on trucks. The rise of water price due t0 the local currency devalution makes it harder for families to afford buying water.
Abd al-Salam al-Audaini, a 44-year-old citizen in al-Awadi neighborhood in Taiz City, told Al-Muhsahid about his suffering, saying, “Access to water has become possible for those who can afford it. The price of 3000 liters of untreated water mounted 25,000 YRwhich is consumed within two weeks or less. The price changes due to the fluctuation of the local currency exchange rate. So how long can citizens bear?”
Al-Audaini said, “As for the water charity projects – charitable tanks – they no longer exist as they were before. The one person was allowed to get 20 liters of potable water after standing in long lines.”.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said in June 2022 in a statement on its website that “Yemen is a water-scarce country” and that “the protracted conflict and the under-investment in water infrastructure today deprive millions of Yemenis of access to clean and drinkable water.”
The UN Humanitrain Office (OCHA) estimaites that 17.8 million people lack access to safe water and adequate sanitation services in Yemen.
The current water network covers less than 30 percent of the Yemeni population. Thus, millions of Yemenis, including women and children need to walk for miles to fetch water, the ICRC said. It added that the water pipeline suffers from damage and needs maintenance in many places.
Remedies
To face the severity of the water crisis that Taiz City, Abdel Wahed said, “Taking care of the current water resources, working on their development, and searching for new sources to supplement and enhance the volume of water production, are among the priorities of the Water and Sanitation Corporation in Taiz province in 2023.”
According to Abdel Wahed, some solutions have been implemented in 14 wells, with support from local and international organizations.
These remedies would compensate for the gap between water supply and demand for the city’s residents. 80% of the wells which used to have low production or were dysfunctional in Taiz City have been repaired.
The solutions included upgrading the components of the wells, fixing the faults and replacing the damaged pipes, and maintaining electrical and mechanical pumps and engines, noting that these wells “amounted to more than 14 wells funded and supported by several local and international organizations, said Abdel Wahed.
Over the past months, eight wells were drilled inside the city and were provided with electromechanical equipment and pumping pipes for citizens, which is one of the solutions to address the water crisis in Taiz City. According to Sadiq Al-Tabi’i, Studies and Planning Officer at the Water Corporation in Taiz, this project was implemented and funded by the Kuwait Society for Relief.
In July 2022, Taiz governor Nabil Shamsan inaugurated a project to re-pump water from the central reservoirs in the city center, with an estimated capacity of 11 million liters to alleviate the suffering of citizens.
This water is provided by the city’s emergency wells which are of limited production. This water used to cover only 30% of the city’s geography, while the rest of the city’s areas, 70%, used to obtain its water from the main reservoirs or main distribution centers, which used to come from Al-Haimah, Habirr, Al-Hawjla, and Al-Dabab, Abdul-Wahed said.
The residents of those areas have suffered from water shortages since 2015 up until today. Some emergency solutions were made to restart the operation of the wells inside the city and pump water to citizens in different neighborhoods.
In early March, the foundation stone for digging ten water wells in the Talouq field, west of the city, was put at the cost of 10 billion Yemeni riyals, with the support of the United Arab Emirates. Activists and media professionals believe this step will reduce the 7-year-long suffering of Taiz City’s citizens.
