Chapter
8:
Case
studies
in
Wadi
Siham
During
the
construction
of
WMC3,
several
large
landowners
managed
to
push
for
modifications
of
the
original
design
to
their
benefits.
WMC3
should
have
been
longer
and
irrigate
all
the
way
until
the
village
of
Shara
(Figure
8.5-‐right).
However,
its
length
has
been
drastically
reduced.
According
to
TDA
engineers
there
were
financial
issues
underlying
these
modifications,
which
were
caused
by
the
withdrawal
from
funding
of
the
Kuwait
Fund
for
Arabic
Economic
Development
(KFAED),
one
of
the
major
donors
of
the
WSIP.
“We
put
the
bags
in
the
canal
to
get
some
water
only
when
we
hear
that
person
83
is
in
Sana’a
or
abroad,
just
like
thieves”,
said
Omer
Abdullah,
representative
of
person
82.
Famers
of
person
82
sounded
very
frustrated,
angry
and
hopeless.
They
haven’t
been
able
to
produce
sufficient
crops
for
three
years
and
they
see
no
signs
that
anything
would
happen
to
turn
the
situation
around.
They
are
particularly
frustrated
that
they’ve
donated
much
of
their
land
for
the
TDA
project.
“My
father
donated
a
whole
mountain
and
plenty
of
land
for
the
public
good
and
now
we
are
treated
like
this?!!”
said
Mohammed
Saad,
a
local
farmer.
“He
treats
us
like
chicken.
That
is
how
he
sees
us”,
added
Omer
Abdullah.
On
the
other
hand,
person
83
expressed
his
discontent
with
the
new
water
distribution
system
implied
by
the
77
WSIP.
According
to
him,
the
WIS
upsets
the
old
Manadeb
system
(plural
of
mandab )
and
as
a
result,
many
farmers
lost
access
to
water.
Moreover,
person
83
argues
that
according
to
irrigation
traditions
in
the
area,
person
82
does
not
have
prior
flood
water
rights.
His
farm
is
located
at
higher
elevation
and,
therefore,
falls
out
of
the
area
that
was
originally
inundated
by
the
flood,
which
is
included
in
the
Manadeb
system.
Person
83’s
problem
with
the
TDA
arrangement
is
that
the
piece
of
wood,
that
is
used
to
divert
water
to
Person
82
and
others,
prevents
the
full
flow
in
WMC3.
This
results
in
siltation
and
sedimentation
in
the
canal,
contributing
to
its
reduced
capacity.
Furthermore,
the
soil
bags
that
are
used
to
divert
water
to
person
82’s
lands
have
made
matters
worse.
Person
83
claims
that
this
arrangement
has
prevented
water
from
flowing
to
1000
ma’ads
including
his
land
and
others
and
that
due
to
almost
total
lack
of
maintenance
by
the
TDA,
the
canal’s
capacity
further
reduced
consistently.
77
A
mandab
is
a
traditional
hand
dug
canal
(or
sandy
barrier)
that
diverts
flood
water
from
the
wadi
to
farmers’
fields.
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