Chapter
8:
Case
studies
in
Wadi
Siham
Landowners
would
talk,
or
with
the
help
of
the
aqil,
find
arrangements
on
the
order
of
water
distribution
in
case
of
disagreements.
In
case
of
excessive
water,
after
irrigating
the
whole
command
area
of
a
certain
barrier,
irrigation
would
start
again
from
the
first
field.
Whenever
a
flood
is
not
sufficient
for
the
whole
area,
the
second
flood
would
be
led
directly
to
those
fields
that
had
not
irrigated
before:
those
farmers
who
had
irrigated
were
forbidden
to
reconstruct
the
bunds
around
their
fields.
In
Wadi
Siham,
the
height
of
the
field
bunds
is
a
measure
for
irrigation
duration.
Farmers
can
irrigate
until
water
has
reached
the
bund,
which
for
sorghum
is
generally
knee-‐high,
for
tobacco
half-‐calf.
This
detail
has
implications
for
how
water
control
developed
in
upstream
areas
and
with
mangoes.
The
allocation
rule
between
two
or
more
barriers
remained
unvaried:
each
barrier
is
meant
to
irrigate
a
particular
area
and
when
fully
irrigated,
farmers
would
make
an
opening
in
the
barrier
in
a
specific
point
close
to
the
wadi
bank
letting
water
flow
downstream
to
the
next
barrier.
Over-‐irrigation
of
fields
would
be
reported
to
the
aqils
or
shaikhs
and
punished
accordingly.
Before
the
summer,
farmers
would
refill
the
canal
and
repair
possible
damages
in
order
to
catch
the
next
floods.
According
to
al
aela
fil
aela,
new
farmers
have
room
for
appropriating
the
water
resource
upstream
by
constructing
their
own
canals,
as
long
as
this
does
not
affect
flows
to
traditionally
cultivated
areas
downstream.
This
shows
how
this
rule
traditionally
protected
downstream
water
requirements.
However,
in
the
past
decades
in
Wadi
Siham
this
rule
has
been
increasingly
loosely
applied
and
this
allowed
an
upstream
appropriation
of
the
water
source,
which
does
not
appear
in
line
with
considerations
for
downstream
land
users
and
their
requirement
for
drinking
water
for
instance
suggested
by
the
Islamic
law
itself.
Traditionally,
no
mechanism
existed
for
the
capture
or
distribution
of
groundwater.
The
Yemen’s
2002
Water
Law
requires
a
permit
for
a
new
wells
deeper
as
60m.
In
practice
this
could
not
be
enforced
in
Wadi
Siham.
The
largest
single
impact
on
groundwater
availability,
however,
comes
from
the
construction
of
the
different
spate
diversion
structures,
as
described
earlier.
As
several
of
these
were
constructed
as
cut-‐off
weirs
they
blocked
the
subsurface
flows
in
the
wadis,
which
are
a
main
source
of
recharge
of
the
well.
As
a
result
wells
down
stream
of
new
structures
dried
up.
8.1.3
Shaikhs
and
Aqils
When
it
comes
to
criminal
acts
such
as
murder,
people
use
the
court.
However,
apart
from
these
issues,
people
rely
on
tribal
leaders
for
dispute
resolution.
Aqils
carry
the
h Vg