Great Man-Made River
A 6,000-mile system of natural and man-made waterways in the eastern U.S. and Canada.
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Fresh water from the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System is delivered across Libya through a pipe network known as the Great Man-Made River.[1] According to Guinness World Records, this irrigation scheme is the biggest on the planet.[1] Up to 70% of all fresh water consumed in Libya comes from this project.[2]
Quick Facts
- Type
- Infrastructure project
- Country
- Libya
- Total cost
- More than US$25 billion
Facts from the source article.
Key facts and history
Libya is one of the driest countries on Earth, bereft of rivers, lakes, and rain.[3] Work began in 1984, and in 1991 the first fossil water began flowing to coastal cities.[4] The water comes from the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System, a fossil aquifer that accumulated during the last ice age.[5] The pipeline system pumps water from southern Libya to cities including Tripoli and Benghazi.[2]
Imported goods for construction were made in Korea and Europe, arriving via the port of Brega.[6] During the First Libyan Civil War in 2011, a NATO air strike hit the Brega pipe-making plant.[7] In April 2020, an armed group seized a station controlling water flow to Tripoli, cutting water to over two million people.[8] The system draws water from over 1,300 wells, many drilled deeper than 500 meters, and delivers 6,500,000 cubic meters daily to cities including Tripoli, Benghazi, and Sirte.[9]
Construction costs were estimated to exceed US$25 billion, and the work was finished without borrowing from international banks or receiving major foreign financial aid.[10]
What the cited sources add
The Christian Science Monitor reports that the government intends to use the project to develop 160,000 hectares of farmland.[3] Independent estimates indicate the aquifer could be depleted in 60 to 100 years, according to University of Victoria professor Stephen Lonergan.[3] The same source states that the aquifer could be depleted as soon as 60 years from now, contrasting with the Libyan Government's claim of 4,625 years.[4]
References
- Wikipedia, "Great Man-Made River" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Guinness World Records 2008 Book . (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Great Man-Made River" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Moutaz Ali, "The Eighth Wonder of the World?", Quantara.de, 2017 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- "Libya's Qaddafi taps 'fossil water' to irrigate desert farms - CSMonitor.com", The Christian Science Monitor. facts only, no text reused. csmonitor.com
- "Colonel Qaddafi and the Great Man-made River – Water Matters - State of the Planet". facts only, no text reused. blogs.ei.columbia.edu
- Wikipedia, "Great Man-Made River" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Article from Saudi Aramco January/February 2007; "UN Environment Program"; "Libya's Qaddafi taps 'fossil water' to irrigate desert farms - CSMonitor.com", The Christian Science Monitor; "Colonel Qaddafi and the Great Man-made River – Water Matters - State of the Planet" (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Great Man-Made River" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hands-on; AMAC's Purchasing Manager. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Great Man-Made River" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Libya says six killed in airstrike near Brega", Reuters, 22 July 2013 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Great Man-Made River" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "UN condemns water cutoff to Libyan capital Tripoli", www.aljazeera.com, 2020-04-10 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Great Man-Made River" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Water-Technology" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Great Man-Made River" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Scholl, "Map Room: Hidden Waters", World Policy Journal (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Great Man-Made River (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
More in Canals And Waterways
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Great Man-Made River (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Word definitions: the Codexery glossary, each quoted from its Wikipedia article.
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