Foggara water distribution resembles an electrical circuit in the Algerian oasis of Ouled Said, known throughout North Africa for its many date varieties. Here, Baza Mohammed cleans out finger-hole-size water passages in the stone water gates. The village has more than 50 miles of aqueducts that divide into 360 branch lines. In this part of the world, people often inherit water rights rather than land, as the land is useless without water. Since 2000, oil-rich Algeria has invested an estimated $30 billion in agricultural development by expanding irrigation and arable land. But it remains highly dependent on imported grain, buying three times the amount it typically grows.
