When will Sana’a run out of water?

Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, may run out of economically viable water supplies by 2017 as available groundwater is unable to keep pace with the needs of a fast-growing population, experts warn.

Per capita water consumption is right now about two hundred cubic meters per year, compared to a scarcity threshold of 1700 cubic meters per year.

The cost of water has tripled in the last year, and the population of the city is expected to double within the next ten years.

There has been talk of moving the capital, as well as desalinating seawater on the coast and pumping it 2,000 metres uphill to Sanaa. But there are no concrete plans.

It may be too late for the removal of various water subsidies to make a difference, even assuming that were to happen.  In the meantime, there have been few positive developments and of course the war is a huge negative.

It would be tragic, and in modern times unprecedented, if and when a major city simply runs out of water, and that could happen in about two years’ time.  Here is further coverage.

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