Part of the foggara water distribution system in Oulad Said village. The village is supplied by five major lines of foggara with some 360 branches totaling 80 km. Here the water from three foggara goes six different ways, and downstream they are further divided. Channels for water are measured by finger holes in the barrier stones, which are being checked and cleaned by Baza Mohammed, 51 y.o. resident of Oulad Said.
The water supplied by the foggara is decreasing because new wells with pumps are lowering the water table uphill from the water sources of the foggara, and the young people don't want to take on the job of maintaining them, which is difficult and dangerous work. Algeria's population is four times what it was at independence, and there is only so much water to be tapped in the Sahara without depleting the supply.
- Filename
- STNMTZ_20091118_03414.tif
- Copyright
- ©2009 George Steinmetz
- Image Size
- 5616x3744 / 60.2MB
- Contained in galleries
- Algeria Oasis
