The team of WEC farmers conducting a meeting in March with local farmers of Tehama to exchange experiences in local groundwater management. The events had place at the Tehama
Development Authority in the presence of Dr. Abdulssalam Taib Head of TDA. The participated farmers were from deferent Tehama valleys, from Wadi Zabid, Wadi Seham and
Wadi Al Gar.
After welcoming for all participants and the parole of WEC and the Head of Water Users
Associations Union Mr. Amar Rassam, Dr. Abdulssalam Al Taib Head of TDA take the parole. He start by mentioning how much Tehama suffer from scarcity of water resources. He cited the incredible rapid decreasing in groundwater table from few meters to more than
100m. He warning from the future if the shortage of water resources continue without any consumption use the water use and without recharging Tehama valleys’ aquifers. He added that the water resources for Tehama valleys are from the annual water floods that arrive from rainy zones ant that the amount of annual water resources that reach Tehama valleys does not meet the extremely high rate of groundwater abstraction from wells. To explain how much the danger that face the future of groundwater situation in Tehama, he made a comparison with the situation of Sana’a basin and cited at the end that the annual declining rate in groundwater level at Sana’a basin could be lower that of Tehama because of the difference in groundwater recharging rate. Then he mentioned that there is an agreement with the Netherlands Embassy to adopt a project for developing and managing Tehama basin. He critic the behavior of some water users who excessively pumping groundwater more than requirements needs to grantee high crop production, neglecting the water needs for the future of coming generations to continue their life without thinking on immigrate to other countries. Head of TDA explained the negative effects of water scarcity that created many conflicts all around water in Tehama especially during the floods season from side and around well drilling from other side. Head of TDA critic the water users associations formed for groundwater (wells) or surface (spate irrigation) water usage, he complain the negative role that such association play in provoking the conflicts attitude while it does not take care of its important goals for maintaining water channels and structures (He named Al Bonay WUA in Wadi Zabid).
First documented film shown the experience of Wadi Qaradha in Bani Hosheish – Sana’a.
Fadle Bin Manea explained the role of the water users association in construction, operating and managing of the small dams’ project. He explained the difference in the situation of groundwater before and after the implementation of the project, by citing the profit referred on the level of groundwater table levels at well depths. Tehama farmers start to dispute between them when one farmer comment that they suffer from the attempt of upstream zone to build barriers to block flood water that prevent the downstream to profit from flood season.
It was clear that this dispute already exist among the participants before they attend the meeting.

Al Kharabat of Bani Matar – Sana’a was the second experience in groundwater management shown. It followed by the explication of Fadel Garallah on the motivation that lead the community of Al Kharabat to form the water association to manage their groundwater and to conserve their last continuous productive spring. Then he answered on questions regarding the total number of springs and how the community of the surrounded villages profit form springs water for agricultural and domestic proposes. Other questions concerning the application of drip irrigation under greenhouses posed. The important note during this session was the continuous dispute participated farmers of Tehama. It is appear that there are great differences between them (mostly water conflicts). The WEC team tried to keep discipline in the hall. Mr. Amar Rassam intervened by promise them to meet them later to discuss their water issues and to propose solutions and sign an agreement between all of each Wadi farmers.
Then Mohamed Hegazi presented the experience of Al Mahjal experience in Bani Al Hareth –
Sana’a. Farmers of Tehama posed questions regarding the role of the WUA and its financial resource; they ask if the fees that paid from the members is enough? What other financial resources that could the association receive from the government? How to be involved into one of the subsidized projects.
Dhola Hamadan – Sana’a was the last documented experience presented. It concentrated upon the underground rainwater and springs water harvesting tunnels network that constructed 300 years before Islam and used for irrigation proposes. Farmers of Tehama was interested with this experience. After shown the video I posed a question asking, “if any of historical water structures excite in Tehama that we could capturing it in a documented video as of Dhola. I got not any answer, one comment “Science Tehama depend on flood season, we have historical rule named Al Gabarti for Zabid spate irrigation”. Other comment, “our parents and grandparents depend on building periodic dams using soil to block floodwater for certain period then when water level increase in front of this small dam it destroy it to open the path and continue flow to downstream. It was appear that all participants were fascinated with the story of historical water tunnels network.
An engineering participated by explaining how much farmers suffer for keep their land productive specially with the shortage in diesel fuel which considered high price comparing with the economical capacity of the simple farmer of Tehama. He add that because Tehama farmers – most of them – does not follow up the new sustainable agricultural techniques he will going on his sufferance. He mentioned that behind the benefits that could be gained from such agricultural sustainable techniques (greenhouse and drip irrigation) wich reduce the consumption of both diesel and groundwater there are also availability of groundwater pumping that depend upon solar energy.
It is better appear that Tehama basin is very different comparing with the others Yemeni basins from the side of nature of agricultural activities that depend mainly upon spate irrigation and from the side of behavior and relationships between farmers. Depending over spate irrigation in the existing of inappropriate spate irrigation network caused degradation of the nature of downstream areas especially in the Wadis where the powerful player located at the upper stream areas. In addition, the fable management of the water sectors unit offices in
Tehama provoke farmers towards conflicts over the distribution water during flood seasons.
The amount of water conflicts among farmers of Tehama as in Wadi Zabid and Wadi Seham threaten the agricultural production at downstream areas and the groundwater resources at the

upper stream areas. In plus of that came the negative effects of diesel shortage to increase the poverty and push many small farmers to abandon their lands and chose to immigrate. The inequity distribution of floodwater among Wadis different areas is greatly affected the livelihoods of downstream farmers. Where, farmers at upper stream areas profit floodwater with amounts encouraged them to made changing to their cropping pattern by introducing high water requirements crops as banana at Wadi Zabid and tobacco at Wadi Seham.
When Tehama farmers participated to this meeting, they came with these entire mentioned problems. Tehama farmers meeting with farmers from out of Tehama turned their attention to tow important things; first that they could positively collaborate to solve their problems and locally manage their groundwater resources rather than to collect in groups to fight between each other. Second, that there are modern agricultural techniques that could be used to reduce groundwater consumption and to increase crop production and income. The mission of
Tehama was difficult but marked with positive impact over the compartments of Tehama farmers.
During WEC team field visit to Wadi Zabid, at the middle of the Wadi the team met with
Mohamed Saleh Head of Sharij Al Bagar water users association one of Wadi Zabid canals.
The head of association explained the coverage area of his association and the change accrued in the cropping pattern especially the effect of starting using groundwater pumping on introducing banana trees in place of sesame and cereals crops. He mentioned that banana trees were cultivated all around fields and consumed huge amount of groundwater (high of about
30 to 40 cm of water over the land surface every 10 to 15 days), the production of the banana trees used to exported to Saudi Arabia. When farmers found that their groundwater declined rapidly and the groundwater availability start to decrease and not sufficient for banana trees they decided to remove banana trees. Farmers replaced banana trees with other crops such as
Mango, lemon, maize, cotton or fodder crops. He cited the role of the association in forming the farmers into small groups according to type of crop they would to adopt, started to distribute to each group the seeds, and small trees they chosen gratuity at first time. The association made attention to kind of variety that must have good production and high quality.
Head of the association explained the situation of the groundwater table level and that after the removal of banana trees the annual rate of groundwater declining had decreased significantly.
Still in the middle of Wadi Zabid, after few hundreds of meters, WEC team observed numbers of small fields divided by big borders (high), some of these borders are destroyed by an effect of water floods (as it seems to us). The team stopped and interview one of the villagers was waking by chance nearby, Ahmed is his name. Answering about the reason of building these high borders to separate the fields, he explained that it is to conserve adequate amount of flood water to make feed the soil deeply (as sort of recharging the surface aquifer) by water to be used later to cultivate crops. He added that the high of the border is designed according to the area of each field, as the area of the field increase the high also must be increased.
Answering about the reason that destroyed some of these borders, he mentioned that before about four months a huge flood come directly with first daylight, it fill all the fields and increased to cover all borders, because of the small size of drainage canal that cross the road, the flood water cause damage to some borders and continue to move. Lot of villages touched by the effect of flooding, many houses destroyed, thanks GOD that this does not happened while the people was sleeping at night.

In one of banana fields of Wadi Zabid, WEC team met two farmers. They explained the disadvantage of banana trees concerning its need to huge amount of irrigation water and the continuous production of banana that made farmers found profitability to adopt it. But after they found that it excessively consume their groundwater resource they decided to replace banana trees with mango, sesame, or maize crops. One of the two farmers mentioned that in the type of groundwater that has been used until now is exist at the surface aquifer and not the artisan one, the comportment of the farmers in adopting banana trees and irrigate it excessively from the surface groundwater caused rapid decreasing in the level of the groundwater. He cited that some farmers use more than one pump to irrigate banana fields from one well (3pumps on the same well as he mentioned). In the past, before introducing banana trees, our parents used to plant their lands two times with different crops without irrigation after each flood season (he added). The other farmer explained how much farmers at the middle of Wadi Zabid suffer from the inequity floodwater distribution between them and the farmers at the upper steam area. He added that farmers in the upper stream are rich and mostly play a negative powerful role. They used to block floodwater to reach our lands in the middle of the Wadi and the responsible aided them by increasing the level of the out flow channels by one meter high. The other farmer added the shortage of diesel fuel and increase of its price in the black market cause complicated the situation in front of us, the simple farmers at the middle of the Wadi.
In Wadi Seham we met Hidar Thom who explained the poor situation of most water users associations in Wadi Seham. He said that with their low economical capacity and by collecting their efforts with the support from Tehama development Authority (TDA), they are able to conduct their role in maintaining the floodwater channel that considered as the main goal of the establishing of the association. They did two channels (he mean through TDA) with several branches at the end of each one. These two channels network project helped positively in improving the distribution of floodwater among the Wadi water users. If there are any misunderstanding about water distribution the association intervene to solve this problem peacefully. In the middle of Wadi Seham there are two water associations, the one of
Haider Thom contain about more than 300 members. Haidar Thom and the other farmers spoke about the problem of sesbania trees that cause blocking the flow path of floodwater in the channels network and how they collect their efforts to remove these trees and maintain the channels network.
Within the same association one of the farmers shown a small barrier that had been built by
TDA according to the request of the association to control the sedimentations that come with each floodwater and cause blockage to the entrance of the channel that, reduce the amount of water that should enter.
WEC team posed a question to Haidar Thom; what could happen to you (farmers in the middle of Wadi); suppose if a dam built in the upper stream of the Wadi? He said that it would be our end. So, the team ask Haidar; do you (farmers in the middle of the Wadi) take care of the need of the farmers in the downstream for water? He answered yes; as we want to water, we should also let water to reach the downstream farmers. Regarding the modern irrigation, systems (drip irrigation mainly) he answered that the farmers know about the importance of such systems but they do not have the financial capacity to bay it. Team of
WEC advised that they must request from TDA to create a support project to provide subsidized drip irrigation systems for them.