Long-distance and fossil-aquifer water transfer megaprojects
#00203
Pump water hundreds of kilometres or mine non-renewable aquifers to supply cities. A high-risk approach: systemic risk concentrates in a single artery, and fossil-aquifer mining is non-renewable by definition — making both patterns cautionary as much as options.
Great Man-Made River Authority (Libyan state) · since 1984 · National
The Great Man-Made River, begun in 1984, is a roughly $25bn network pumping fossil water from the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer across hundreds of kilometres of desert to coastal cities. Before 2011 about 70% of Libyans depe…
Capital cost~25billion USD
Share of Libyans dependent before 2011~70% of population
$25B · Libyan state