Libya's Great Artificial River delivers 6.5 million cubic meters of water daily from an ancient aquifer, but its sustainability is under threat due to overuse and regional tensions.
Underground water flows in Libya
Every day, 6,500,000 cubic meters of fresh water flow through underground pipes beneath the Libyan Sahara, equivalent to 2,600 Olympic-sized swimming pools delivered in 24 hours to cities such as Tripoli, Benghazi, or Syrte.The Great Artificial River
The Great Artificial River, an underground network of pipes and aqueducts spanning 2,820 kilometers, provides 70 percent of the fresh water used in Libya. The water comes from the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer, a fossil aquifer accumulated during the last glacial period and no longer being recharged by rain.Aquifer's vast reach
The aquifer extends beneath Libya, Egypt, Chad, and Sudan, and is estimated to contain 373,000 billion cubic meters of water over about 2 million square kilometers.Drilling and pumping system
The network relies on more than 1,300 wells drilled into the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer, most of which have been drilled more than 500 meters deep. Pumping stations push the water northward, over a distance that can reach 1,600 kilometers between the water capture fields and the Mediterranean coast.Project origins and phases
The project, launched in Sarir in 1984, was first laid in the Sarir region by Muammar Gaddafi on August 28, 1984, after being designed in the late 1960s. The second phase began on August 26, 1989.Water level decline and issues
A study published in 2022 on the Tazerbo water capture field, in the southeast of the country, notes a maximum water level drop of 28 meters in 2019. This field, put into production in March 2004, supplies only about a third of its planned capacity. Researchers also note subsidence discovered about thirty kilometers north, and water naturally rich in iron and manganese.Uncertain future of the aquifer
Estimates on how long the water will last vary. Some suggest a duration of 60 to 100 years at the current extraction rate, while others go up to a thousand years. The discrepancy likely stems from the assumptions made about the actual exploitable volume and future pumping rate.Infrastructure risks and damage
The uncertainty is compounded by the fragility of the network, which is exposed to the country's risks. In 2011, during the first Libyan civil war, NATO strikes targeted a pipe manufacturing plant linked to the project. The pumps, wells, and stations require constant maintenance, and each interruption directly affects the supply of coastal cities.Regional competition for water
The regional dimension further complicates the calculation. With its network of wells and pipes, Libya has taken the lead in the use of a shared aquifer, possibly to the detriment of Egypt, Chad, and Sudan. Reports indicate dried wells on the Egyptian side, which forces a reassessment of the actual available volumes in the aquifer.
