Retrieved From: WorldAtlas.com
Years of drought had dried up the ancient water supply networks existing around the Mediterranean Rim. However, with rainfall returning over the past 5 years, the hydraulic heritage has come to life again. The names of the tunnels that carry the revived streams -khettaras in Morocco, foggaras in Algeria or qanâts in Iran- evoke the trickling sounds of water. These underground infiltration galleries are the most characteristic and original illustration of local communities’ recovery of ancestral schemes. As IRD researchers and their partners1 show, these water mines in the middle of the desert, most of which had been abandoned, have now been restored by oasis inhabitants.
These communities are now reinvesting in the maintenance of khettaras and in agriculture, especially young people returning to rural environments after experiencing unemployment in towns and cities. This is a risk owing to the uncertainties of climate, but fully assumed to revive collective action and to reappropriate the rules governing water-supply access, indeed in anticipation of possible new shortages in the years to come.
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Great news for these people and their country. A similar story exists here in south eastern Australia after 11 years of drought. It could all disappear from the corporate and private hands, however, if some real progress isn’t made on water and land use policy in this country. Boom and bust is a natural phenomenon in this part of the planet and the wild swings of climate change won’t help. Adaption and local resilience must be strengthened at all levels.Thanks for the good news post and keep fighting the good fight.