Chapter
9:
Case
studies
in
Ta’izz
by
NWRA
Sana’a,
more
than
95%
of
the
well-‐water
is
used
to
irrigate
water
over
more
than
10
kilometers
in
81
the
area.
Yet
rainwater
has
not
been
sufficient
over
the
past
three
years.
Person
94,
one
side
of
the
conflict,
mentioned
that
he
used
to
sell
water
at
YR3,000
per
hour,
using
two
water
pumps
from
his
well
for
24
hours
nonstop.
Now
he
can
only
pump
four
hours
a
day.
Most
people
in
the
area
have
to
buy
truck
water
from
tents
dozens
of
kilometers
away
to
irrigate
their
qat.
According
to
the
district
director,
random
well
drilling
is
increasing
at
an
alarming
level.
NWRA
in
Ta’izz
provides
permissions
(in
a
letter
format)
to
drill
wells
without
reverting
to
the
82
district
director
or
district
council .
According
to
the
district
director,
the
traditional
rule
is
that
Alaqrab
bel
Aqrab
(the
closer
then
the
close)
that
means
that
those
closest
to
the
water
source
have
the
priority.
The
traditional
rule
also
says
the
priority
83
should
be
given
to
drinking
water
before
irrigation.
However,
the
rule
does
not
seem
to
be
clearly
reconginzed
in
Halalah
as
conflict
sides
have
totally
different
understandings
of
what
the
traditional
rules
are.
Person
94
talked
about
a
traditional
rule
in
which
each
well
owner
irrigates
the
lands
of
the
people
who
are
“part
of
him”.
This
means
that
there
is
a
traditional
informal
agreement
that
certain
well
owners
irrigate
for
certain
people,
and
that
landowners
are
not
supposed
to
turn
to
another
well
owner,
even
if
he
offers
him
a
cheaper
price.
According
to
him,
they
call
that
the
“usual
farms”
(Mazare3
mo3tadah).
However
for
the
Qassems,
the
traditional
rule
stipulates
that
water
goes
to
Ala’awal
be
Al’Awal
(First
then
First).
This
means
that
well-‐owners
should
irrigate
for
those
who
are
closer
to
them
before
moving
to
those
next
closest
and
so
on.
For
land
irrigation,
all
parties
agree
that
the
traditional
rule
is
that
for
qat
irrigation
the
profit
is
divided
as
follows:
¼
is
for
the
water
provider,
¼
is
for
land
owner,
and
½
is
for
the
one
who
plants
the
seeds
and
*wV&G0