Chapter
7:
Case
studies
in
Sana’a
basin
7.2
Case
2
-‐
Arrowdah:
villagers
of
Ber
Julah
against
grape
farm
owner
7.2.1
Overview
of
the
conflict
In
1985
a
newcomer
to
the
area
of
Arrowdah
established
a
grape
farm.
In
1990
land
adjacent
to
his
land
was
flooded.
He
diverted
part
of
the
flood
to
his
land.
However,
the
flood
passed
to
lower
lands
in
the
direction
of
other
farms
in
the
town
of
Arrowdah.
The
act
of
the
new
owner
was
considered
hostile
by
the
downstream
land
owners,
since
this
act
violated
the
traditional
arrangements
and
the
ownership
rights
of
the
downstream
landowners
to
use
the
flood
in
that
area.
7.2.2
A:
Context
and
contextual
changes
The
main
agriculture
produce
in
this
area
are
grapes
and
qat,
with
some
plantations
of
vegetables
such
as
tomato
and
potato
for
personal
consumption
and
local
markets.
There
is
a
noticeable
increase
in
the
area
of
qat
growing
as,
according
to
the
interviewees,
it
is
the
best
choice
in
term
of
value
return
and
qat
needs
less
work
and
inputs.
Interestingly,
it
is
believed
that
qat
as
a
crop
does
not
consume
more
water
as
compared
to
other
crops
(seemingly
even
less
as
tomatoes),
however
as
an
increasing
amount
of
the
fields
are
cultivated
with
qat,
the
total
amount
of
water
needed
for
irrigation
increases.
The
expansion
of
the
city
of
Sana’a
had
reduced
the
agriculture
land
area.
The
difficulty
of
farming
has
driven
some
local
farmers
to
sell
their
lands
for
construction
in
order
to
benefit
from
the
higher
land
prices
created
by
the
extension
of
the
city.
With
regard
to
groundwater,
people
are
obliged
to
maintain
a
distance
of
500m
between
the
wells.
Currently
this
rule
is
fully
respected,
as
the
more
powerful
dig
wells
as
they
deem
fit;
there
is
no
control
whether
this
rule
is
respected.
The
customary
rule
which
regulates
the
surface
water
irrigation
is
‘Ala’ala
Fala’ala’.
According
to
this
rule,
those
who
are
in
upper
lands
have
the
right
to
irrigate
first.
However,
new
users
in
higher
areas
have
to
respect
the
older
claims
of
those
in
lands
below
them.
When
the
flood
arrives,
farmers
take
water
in
turns
to
flood
their
fields.
In
order
to
achieve
this
purpose,
alternatingly
holes
are
made
in
the
earth
bunds
that
separate
the
fields.
In
the
area
surrounding
Arrowdah,
floodwater
is
allocated
to
farmers
through
daily
shares
in
a
period
(“dyala”)
of
19
days.
When
the
19
days
end,
a
new
period
of
19
days
commences,
as
such
there
are
six
“deyalat”
in
a
four
month
periode.
During
the
first
dyala,
one
side
of
the
village
will
receive
water,
while
in
the
next
dyala
another
side
of
the
village
will
receive
water,
and
so
forth.
The
people
are
obliged
to
respect
these
shares
because
they
use
it
since
many
years.
These
custom
rules
can
not
be
changed,
even
if
people
would
like
to
do
so.
The
old
men
in
the
village
V