2005 - 2006 - Pinsent Masons Water Yearbook 2012

YEMEN PART 2: COUNTRY ANALYSIS
Yemen
Annual renewable water resources are estimated at 2.5 billion m 3 pa, equivalent to 140m 3 per person
per annum, compared with the Middle East and North Africa average of 1,250. By 2005, consumer
demand in the country is expected to rise to 3.42 billion m 3 per annum, a shortfall of 920 million m 3 per
annum. The uneven nature of water resources means that 90% of the population has under 90m 3
annually for domestic use, some 10% below the worldwide norm. 44% of the population have access
to mains water supply and only 12% to safe sanitation. Approximately 50% of Sanaa's 1.7 million
residents have access to piped water. For the rest, water vendors cost some 2,800riyals (US$15) a
month.
According to the UNDP and other donors, the exhaustion of the usable non-renewable groundwater
stock (estimated at about 3 billion m 3 ) will occur by 2010-2020, meaning that total water availability in
the Lusaka Basin would be then limited essentially to the estimated annual natural recharge of 30-50
million m 3 which is equivalent to the present level of domestic and industrial water use
Yemen depends almost entirely on some 45,000 wells that are being rapidly depleted by poor
management and wasteful irrigation methods. Up to 60% of water consumed in Yemen is used for
irrigating qat, a mild narcotic plant popular in Yemen and the Horn of Africa, which has been cited as
an impediment to economic development.
In 2002, the World Bank approved €134 million (US$130 million) loan to upgrade water supply and
sanitation services in urban communities. Through improved operation and reduction of water losses,
the project will increase water supplies and provide affordable sewerage facilities, which will enable
wastewater to be reused for agriculture. Cost recovery mechanisms will be introduced. This is to be
linked to creating opportunities for PSP in the longer term.
Also in 2002, the World Bank and IDA announced that it was inviting prequalification bids for a lease
contract for the provision of water and wastewater services for Sana'a’s Water Supply and Wastewater
Services Local Corporation (SWSWSLC). In the Sana’a basin, where 10% of the population live, it
was estimated in the mid 1990s that water extraction (224 million m 3 ) exceeded the level of recharge
(42 million m³) by over 400%. In Amran water levels have dropped 60m during the last twenty years
and by 30m between 1995 and 2000.
In 2004, Yemen completed the preparation of a ten year, integrated water and environmental sector
strategy, action plan and investment program. The National Water Sector Strategic Investment Plan
(NWSSIP), supported by WSP-Africa and other partner organizations, is the first sectoral strategy in
Yemen to clearly define targets and achievement indicators for each sub-sector, and provide
institutional arrangements that allow for measuring progress towards program goals. In January 2005,
representatives of key donors active in the water sector in Yemen signed a Declaration of Support for
the NWSSIP, which is expected to become fully operational by the end of the year. Including
irrigation, the NWSSIP calls for US$1.54 billion in investment.
There are currently 20 WWTPs in Yemen, either operating, under construction or at the design stage,
with a total treatment capacity that will reach about 200,000 m 3 per day. These are mainly waste
stabilisation pond systems, which can effectively be combined with irrigation agriculture for effluent
recovery and reuse. In 2003, Yemen’s Water and Sanitation Corporation invited contractors to prequalify
for a contract to design and build a 10,000m 3 per day extension to the existing Ibb sewage
treatment plant. The work will be financed by Germany’s KfW and the Government.
Source:
Ebaid R & Hall J (2005) Effluent and Sludge Management in Yemen, MWH Arabtech Jardaneh, Sana’a, Yemen
211 Pinsent Masons Water Yearbook 2005 – 2006