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C I V I L - M I L I T A R Y F U S I O N C E N T R E

The Civil-Military Fusion Centre (CFC) is an information and knowledge management organisation focused on improving civil- 

military interaction, facilitating information sharing and enhancing situational awareness through the  CimicWeb   portal and our 

weekly and monthly publications. CFC products are based upon and link to open-source information from a wide variety of  

organisations, research centres and media sources. However, the CFC does not endorse and cannot necessarily guarantee the 

accuracy or objectivity of these sources. CFC publications are independently produced by Knowledge Managers and do not

reflect NATO policies or positions of any o ther organisation. 

Angelia Sanders, MPHNovember 2011

Mediterranean Basin Knowledge Manager

angelia.sanders@cimicweb.org 

eptember 2011 marked the 20th anniversary of the first time water was pumped from the southern

deserts of Libya to the populated towns of the coast through the project called “The Great Man-Made

River” (GMMR). According to the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP), the GMMR is

among the “largest civil engineering projects in the world.” However, despite this civil engineering marvel,

Libyans experienced a water crisis as the Libyan conflict adversely impacted cities across Libya. This report

will provide a background on Libya’s water resources, with a special look at the GMMR. It will also provide

information on the water emergency that occurred in Libya and how international agencies and actors

worked to provide water to the people.

BackgroundLibya is 95% desert and has an extremely low annual rainfall with 93% of the land surface receiving less

than 100 mm/year, reports the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO). The

country’s climatic conditions are influenced by the Sahara desert to the south and the Mediterranean Sea to

the north. These conditions create an abrupt change in weather patterns between the two regions and most

rainfall is concentrated in the northern Tripoli and Benghazi region. According to the FOA, Libya has no

continuous water sources and historically, drinking water was obtained from aquifers located in the coastal

areas and from desalinated sea water. These historical water management practices created challenges and

impacted water resources within the country.

One problem with the coastal aquifers was that as water was removed from the aquifer, it was replaced bysalty sea water, causing increased salinity in the water table, according to a BBC News report. As a result of 

this contamination in the aquifers, the water became unusable for agriculture and unhealthy to drink, to the

point that water in the city of Benghazi was non-potable. In the 1980s, in response to the growing water

emergency, the Libyan government undertook a massive infrastructure project to build a  man-made river. 

This project would tap into the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System (NSAS) and other ground water sites.

According to the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the NSAS is one of the largest and most

important underground aquifers in the world. The 2 million square kilometre (km2) water system holds twice

the water of the Caspian Sea. This water is referred to as ‘fossil’ water because it originated during the lastice age, approximately 210,000 to 1 million years ago, when the climate was wet and rich in rainfall. Due to

the enclosed nature of the water system and limited rainfall since the last ice age, the aquifer is largely non-

renewable, states the IAEA.

S

 

This document examines the provision of water in Libya. Related 

information is available at   www.cimicweb.org. Hyperlinks to sourcematerial are highlighted in blue and underlined in the text. A list of  

acronyms is provided on the final page. 

Libya’s Great Man-Made River and theSupply of Water during Libya’s Conflict 

Comprehensive Information on Complex Crises

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Table 1. Estimation of Groundwater Storage in Nubian Aquifer of North Africa

The distribution of the water within the NSAS is uneven, with

some areas having more groundwater than others. The NSAS

lies below the eastern parts of the Sahara in Libya, Sudan,

Egypt and Chad. All four countries share the common

geographical characteristics of extremely arid climates, lowirregular rainfall, fragile ecosystems, persistent drought and

scarce surface water sources. According to IAEA, the land is

highly susceptible to desertification and land degradation;

hence the population of those living directly above the NSAS is

estimated to be only 763,000  with 37% in Sudan, 29% inLibya, 24% in Egypt and 10% in Chad.

Source: UNESCO 2006  , Non-Renewable Groundwater Resources

During the oil exploration of the 1950s and 1960s, Libya discovered deep underground freshwater systems. 

According to the UNEP, three groundwater systems contribute to meet almost 95% of  Libya’s current water

needs. The Murzuk 1 Basin Aquifer System, located in Libya, Algeria and Niger; the North-Western Sahara

Aquifer System (NWSAS) located in Libya, Algeria and Tunisia; and the NSAS which is comprised of the

Hamada, Kufra and Sirte sub-basins.2

The Murzuk and Kufra groundwater basins located in the southern

desert account for two-thirds of the groundwater reserves used by Libyans. After the aquifers of the NSAS

were discovered, the water was first utilized to develop several agricultural projects  in remote desert areasclose to the wells. However, there continued to be a need to provide potable water to the 90% of the Libyanpopulation living in coastal areas that had been relying on desalination plants. Since moving the people to the

water was deemed impractical, the GMMR project was initiated to move the water to the people.

1 This report will use the UNESCO spelling for Murzuk. Another common form of spelling for the word is Murzuq.  

2 This information is taken from a map provided in The Economist . 

Source: Adapted from The Economist  , Plumbing the

Sahara

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The Great Man Made RiverThe GMMR project officially began

implementation in 1984 at an estimated cost of 

over USD 30 billion. Unlike most large scale

projects in developing countries, Libya did nothave to rely on significant loans from

international banks or funds. According to BBC,

the Libyan government instead has been able to

pay for the project with funds taken mostly from

Libya’s nationalised oil sector. Additionally, inthe initial stages of the project, foreign companies

from Germany, Japan, Philippines, South Korea,

Turkey and the United Kingdom were brought in

to provide the technical and engineering

expertise. Since 1990, the United Nations

Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation

(UNESCO) has contributed  to the “training of 

engineers and technicians, the setting up of a

training centre and the establishment of a

technical documentation centre.” Today Libyan workers comprise 70% of the manufacturing jobs and the

majority of the manufacturing that supports the GMMR is done in Libya.

The GMMR construction project  consists of five

main phases. The first three phases have been

completed.3 

1. Phase one began in 1984 in the arid south-

eastern region. Water can be transported 1,600 km

from the well fields into two coastal areas

(Benghazi and Sirte). Two reservoirs were

established with a capacity of 20 million cubic

metres of water. Transport capacity reached 2

million cubic metres per day.2. Phase two brought water along a 1,227 km long

pipeline from the northwest Sahara Basin, located

in the western part of Libya, to Tripoli. This

pipeline can transport 2.5 million cubic metres of 

water per day.3. Phase three extended the first phase pipeline

deeper into the desert by 383 km and added 7 new

pumping stations which transport an additional

1.68 million cubic metres of water per day.

To be completed: 4. Phase four will extend the distribution network 

and involve the construction of a 621 km pipeline

between the Ajdadiya coastal reservoirs to Tobruk 

city on the northeast coast.

5. Phase five will comment the western and

3 Maps and descriptions from the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), the Economist , and the BBC each describe a

different third stage phase being completed. For purposes of this paper the information used in regards to the 5 phases is taken fromBOINC, a mostly volunteer program funded by the National Science Foundation.  

  Above: Image of changes in agricultural production as a result of 

irrigation from the GMMR. Source: UN Environment Programme, Global

 Resource Information Database 

 Above: A map of the GMMR water project in Libya, as seen on the 20

dinar currency 

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eastern transporting systems into a single network in Sirte.

According to the FAO, the General Water Authority (GWA) was established in 1972 and is responsible for

all water resource assessment and monitoring, and supervising irrigation and drainage projects within Libya.

The GWA comprises six General Directorates: Planning; Follow-up and Statistics; Water Resources; Dams,Irrigation and Drainage; Soils; and Finance and Administration. The GMMR Authority (GMRA) was

established in 1983 to implement and manage the GMMR. The Secretariat of Municipalities supervises the

supply of water to urban settlements and a special authority called the “Great Manmade River Water Utilization Authority” was established to oversee the use of water transported on the GMMR for agricultural

purposes.4 

Water for AgricultureAgriculture accounts for 80% of Libya’s overall water usage and uses 65-70% of the GMMR’s water supply. 

Need for water provided through irrigation is expected to increase from 1.4 million cubic metres per day to

2.2 million cubic metres per day over the next three years. According to the FAO,  irrigated farming systems

are crucial in generating much of the country’s agricultural output. Almost 90% of the fruit and vegetableproduction and 50% of the cereal production originates from irrigated agriculture. In 2006, agriculture

accounted for 5% of employment and 9% of Libya’s GDP.

The Libyan irrigation sub-sector has three different categories of farming: 

1.  Private irrigation receives substantial state support for water equipment, energy and agricultural

inputs and is mostly located in the traditional development areas of the Jifarah Plain, the Jabal al

Akhdar and the Murzuk Basin area. Farming plots range from 1-5 hectares.

2.  Large-scale state farming mostly located in the southern areas and supplied by the deep wells that

connect the water in the aquifers to the farms. Blocks of land are divided into small plots which are

cultivated by small-scale farmers.

3.  Large-scale state farming which is located in the desert areas and is based on water pivot systems

and operated by state technicians and workers.5 

The FAO reported that the origin of water used for irrigation

is 99% groundwater and 1% primary surface and treated

waste water; highlighting the importance of groundwater’srole in Libya’s food security. Additionally the need to irrigate

farms from water deep in the ground and the challenge of 

growing crops on shallow coarse soils that have high erosion

risks, results in it being cheaper for Libya to import

agricultural products rather than use limited water sources forcrop production. However, Libya has consistently sought to

have a degree of food security and has taken steps to develop

irrigated agriculture for this reason. This decision could be

attributed to the unpredictability of  international sanctions on

the country and, therefore, Libya’s desire to be able tomaintain a high level of food security amidst sanctions.

Agricultural self-sufficiency became an issue during the current conflict when the public food distribution 

system began to be disrupted and the need for emergency food assistance increased.

4 Only the Great Man Made River Project has a functioning website. The GMMR Water Utilization Authority and the General Water

Authority do not have functioning websites. Information gathered was taken from the FOA link provided.  5 Pivot systems are farms developed in a circular pattern to allow for water to be distributed more efficiently. Sprinkler heads are

close to plants which help decrease evaporation and water drifting in the breeze. This system also causes the plants to receive wateron a regular, consistent basis which promotes deep root growth. 

Source: UNEP  Africa Water Atlas (2010) 

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Agriculture is not the only “consumer” of the GMMR’s water. According to Global Water Intelligence, a

company which provides high-value business information for the water industry, the water demand in Libya

is expected to continue growing, especially in the area of municipal consumption. In 2010 the GWA

forecasted a volumetric increase of about 10% every five years up to 2025 if government spending anddevelopment plans continue in sectors such as housing, health and education.

The Libyan Conflict and Its Impact on Water

SupplyAccording to the International Committee of theRed Cross (ICRC), the water infrastructure

suffered light structural damages  during the

fighting. However, because of the

interconnectedness of the fuel, electric and water

systems, a problem in one sector impacted other

systems. Fuel scarcities affect the energy supply

which in turn affects the water supply from the

GMMR and the desalination plants. This is

because the large water-treatment plants rely on

electricity to move the water from the wells to the

reservoirs and to the tap. According to Reuters,

Libya uses its gas and diesel supplies to generate

electricity for domestic consumption and imports

petrol to supply vehicles with fuel. However, over

the course of the conflict, the supply of diesel was

impacted by anti-Gaddafi forces shutting off oil supplies at refinery stations, damages sustained to refinery

stations as a result of fighting, and the smuggling of diesel out of the country. 6 In July 2011, the United

  Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs’ (OCHA)  Water Sanitation and Hygiene 

(WASH) cluster7 was concerned about the impact that fuel and electricity shortages would have on the

GMMR’s ability to continue to supply water. The WASH sector’s ability to respond to the water needs of citizens was hampered by the sheer magnitude of the problems which included the extensive damage to the

power structure, lack of maintenance of the systems and the high demand for spare parts. 

Regions throughout the country experienced varying degrees of water shortages at different points

throughout the conflict amidst concerns that control over the GMMR could be used as a humanitarian

weapon. In April 2011, previous Gaddafi government officials warned that a “human and environmental

disaster” could occur if NATO-led airstrikes  damaged the GMMR system. An official from the GMMRAuthority (GMRA) in Benghazi stated that a water crisis was an unavoidable  result of fighting  in Tripoli.

The combination of attacks on the water network staff, power outages, and a reservoir being held hostage by

pro-Gaddafi fighters led to water shortages in Tripoli. Additionally, power outages stopped the pipeline

pumps from bringing supplies of new water. According to OCHA, Tripoli and surrounding areas began to

experience a shortage of water on 22 August. Some regional water reservoirs, originally kept full by waterpumped through the GMMR, became empty. This forced people to rely upon a limited, local bottled-water

supply. The disruption to the GMMR left 4 million residents of Tripoli without potable tap water. Residents

began to haul water into town in tanker trucks and distribute it outside of mosques, in parking lots and on the

6 The shortage of petrol for vehicles led to the smuggling of Libyan diesel out of Libya into neighbouring countries so that it could beexchanged for petrol. Petrol was then brought back into Libya and sold for vehicle use at high rates.7 The Cluster Approach is used if “a major new emergency requires a multi-sector response with participation of a wide range of 

international humanitarian actors.” In Libya the clusters include: Food Security; Logistics; Multi-Sector; Health; Information

Management; Emergency Shelter; Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH); Protection; Education; Emergency Telecommunications;and Early Recovery Working Group.

Source: Global Water Intelligence 

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street. Amidst rumours that Gaddafi forces poisoned water sources at water plants, the minister for capacity

building in the National Transitional Council (NTC), Farage Sayeh, said in an interview in late August that

the rebels had turned off the city’s water supply. However he stated that “water is the priority No. 1 for us…the first meeting this morning was about providing a fresh water supply to the people.”

The Humanitarian Response and Restoration of ServicesIn response to water shortages, the NTC requested assistance from the international community in the form

of bulk water to be distributed as a stop-gap measure until the water system could be fully restored. At the

end of August and into September, UN agencies and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)

delivered over 200,000 litres of  bottled water to Tripoli. UNICEF, the lead agency for water, sanitation andhygiene in the Libyan crisis response, worked to procure approximately five million litres of water from

neighbouring countries to be trucked or shipped into Tripoli. Greece airlifted  48,000 bottles of water to

Tripoli at the beginning of September. Greece’s Prime Minister George Papandreou stated that Greece was in

a position to transport up to 175,000 cubic metres of water every ten days in an effort to increase Tripoli’spotable water reserves by 50%. Malta sent a tanker carrying 300 tonnes  of potable water to Tripoli in

coordination with the NTC and a Malta based NGO I-Go Aid Foundation. During this time the NTC planned

to establish a reservoir of potable water to be used by residents in the event of further delays in repairing the

water network.8 Due in part to the fact that the looting of GMMR Authority offices and supplies resulted in

an urgent need for water quality surveillance equipment and water treatment chemicals, the Arabian Gulf 

company AGECO provided 200 tonnes of Belgard Antiscalant chemicals  to be distributed to all of the

eastern desalination plants.

During the month of September, the water situation began to improve. By 05 September, 90% of water

supplies were restored to residents in Tripoli and the surrounding areas. The NTC reported that anti-Gaddafi

forces had control  of much of the GMMR though some parts of the system were still controlled by pro-

Gaddafi forces. Later in September, locally bottled drinking water became available on the market though

production was at a reduced level. Eight of 25 bottled water companies were able to resume production

though their capacity was limited due to their inability to procure product inputs. UNICEF worked with local

authorities  to facilitate an assessment of water wells and identify alternative water sources. Despite these

moves to bring the GMMR back to full capacity, UN Security Council, international organisations and

country sanctions imposed on Libya during the beginning of the conflict have impacted the ability of Libya

to access the pumps, motors, generators, and spare parts needed to maintain, repair and rebuild the waternetwork.

Discourse Surrounding the GMMRThere continues to be debate on the usefulness and viability of the GMMR. In 2000, a Libyan hydrologist

with the NSAS Programme, Mohamed Bakhbakhi, stated that “The difficult choice is between twodevelopment options. Do we want large-scale extraction of ground water for maximum benefit of the present

generation or limited extraction that ensures sustainable development and conservation of the resource

 base?” According to the UN IAEA, the challenge in evaluating the GMMR’s impact  in the region is the

inability to fully assess the water reservoirs from which it draws. For example, hydrologists do not know how

water is distributed throughout the underground systems both vertically and laterally and whether currenttechnologies will continue to have the ability to access the various levels of water. It is also difficult to

determine the criteria on how best to “rationally” use the water. A report by the Christian Science Monitor  

cites critics who believe that water sources feeding the GMMR could be depleted in as soon as 60 to 100

years. Ecologists have objections  to the removal of water from non-renewable water resources and the

potential for unknown environmental impacts.

8 As of 29 September UNICEF had 1.3 million litres of the total 10 million litres of water stored in warehouses in Tripoli and

Misrata. 

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According to the UN IAEA, a certain degree of  over-abstraction has already begun and the “depletion anddissection of interconnected sub-  basins can leave large intermediate underground areas and oases dry”. InLibya’s Kufra sub-basin, the pumping of water for the GMMR has already reduced water levels. In areas at

the fringes of the NSAS, where freshwater interfaces with saltwater, there is a higher potential for water

abstraction to leave gaps underground that can become filled with saline water which compromises waterquality. According to UNESCO, the part of the GMMR that draws from the north-western Sahara aquifer

system (NWSAS) is expected to cause an 80 metre drop in water in the next 50 years if the GMMR system

continues to operate at full capacity. The Economist  additionally reports that the withdrawals from the

NWSAS has increased nine fold between 1950 and 2008 resulting in some springs drying up and soil salinity

to increase. Currently, only northern and northwest region aquifers have the ability to recharge. Other criticsof the GMMR point to the possibility of   future conflicts  over the degree to which countries should have

access to the aquifers that lie under multiple political borders. And finally, some economists criticise Libya’suse of more expensive crop cultivations which rely on water pumped from the ground rather than using the

less expensive method of importing food from abroad.

Source: UNESCO 2006  , Non-Renewable Groundwater Resources

In response to the critics, IAEA shows that only a small fraction of the NSAS has been tapped and there

continues to be a massive amount of water available for use. Some estimates put the depletion rate at 100 to

500 years while the Libyan government reported to the Christian Science Monitor  that the water supplies

will last 4,625 years according to current rates of use. GMMR supporters also assert that the water wouldhave negligible usefulness if left untapped versus being used to support a population in need of reliable,

affordable water. In regards to agriculture, state-of-the-art irrigation methods are used that are both

economical and effective. This domestic agriculture also assists with developing food security and a

stabilisation of food prices. According to The Economist , the economic cost of using non-renewable aquifers

is approximately one tenth the cost of desalinated water production. For example, the cost of one cubic meterof GMMR water equates to 35 cents compared to USD 3.75 for one cubic meter of desalinised water.

Water Management and International CooperationConflict mitigation and cooperation among countries using the NSAS, which supplies 70% of the water for

Libya’s GMMR, has already been addressed. The ‘Joint Authority for the Management of the NSAS System’ 

was established in 1992 to enhance cooperation in managing the NSAS water resources between Egypt and

Libya. In 1996, Sudan joined the Authority and was followed by Chad in 1999. Though there remains data

and capacity gaps, the Nubian countries are planning to expand the monitoring and observation of the aquifer

and well networks. From 1997 to 2002, a NSAS Regional Information System (NARIS) database draft was

established with the goal of providing a computer-based display of hydrological maps, water-use scenarios

and long-term projections. According to the UNEP, the three countries that share the North Western Sahara

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Aquifer System have also embraced an approach of    joint management  which “includes an in-depth

knowledge of the aquifer, including projections and simulations of the impacts of intensive water

withdrawal.” In 1999, Gaddafi’s government, in partnership with UNESCO, proposed and  established  the

Great Man-Made River International Water Prize  which annually recognised the achievements of an

individual, a group of individuals or a research institution for making contributions in scientific research anddiscoveries in the field of exploration of groundwater and surface water usage in arid zones.

Moving forwardThe GMMR is a remarkable example of modern civil engineering used to better the lives of Libya’s citizens.  

It has helped expand Libya’s agricultural sector and provided clean , affordable water to a population that isgeographically far removed from its source. The majority of the water shortages that occurred during the

recent conflict were a result of damages to the fuel and electrical systems that support the operation of the

GMMR rather than a failure of the water system. Libya will face many challenges as it moves forward past

the conflict and into the reconstruction phase. The restoration of the Libyan water supply to pre-conflict

levels and attempts to expand the system in the future will be of notable interest to the world, the region and

more importantly the local population who depend on the Great Man Made River for survival.

Acronym Glossary:

FAO Food and Agricultural Organisation

GMMR Great Man-Made River

GMRA Great Man Made River Authority

GWA General Water Authority

IAEA UN International Atomic Energy Agency

ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross

NARIS NSAS Regional Information System 

NSAS Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System

NTC National Transition Council

NWSAS North-Western Sahara Aquifer System

OCHA United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

UN United Nations 

UNEP United Nations Environmental Program

UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation

UNICEF United Nations Children Fund

WASH Water Sanitation and Hygiene