Africa’s dry areas face serious water shortages, the “qanat system”, could help

• Some of Africa’s dry areas face serious water shortages due to minimal rainfall. An ancient system of drawing water from aquifers, the “qanat system”, could help.
• It is an ancient type of water-supply system, developed and still used in arid regions of the world.
• It taps underground mountain water sources trapped in and beneath the upper reaches of alluvial fans and channels the water downhill through a series of gently sloping tunnels.
• The qanats have been used for centuries in arid and semi-arid parts of north Africa, the Middle East and Asia, where water supplies are limited.
• It’s known by a variety of names, “foggara” in north Africa, “falaj” in Oman and “qarez” in parts of Asia.
• Many old qanāts are still used in Iran and Afghanistan, chiefly for irrigation.
• It’s a system that’s managed by everyone and its benefits are shared.
• Some of the region’s qanat systems, like those in Iran, are protected under heritage status.

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Published date : 22 Jan 2024 03:30PM