This document discusses a project to address unsustainable groundwater use in the MENA region. It aims to systematically take stock of past groundwater governance experiences at the global, regional and local levels, including laws, regulations, community actions and institutional structures, and their effectiveness in different contexts. The project will support sharing ideas across MENA countries and other regions, while contextualizing solutions for each state. It involves six countries - Oman, Yemen, Jordan, Abu Dhabi, Tunisia and Lebanon - which offer a diversity of experiences in dealing with groundwater issues, both long-standing and more recent.

1. International Water Management Institute
Groundwater Governance in the Arab World: Taking Stock and Addressing the Challenges
Dr. Alvar Closas and Dr. Edwin Rap
FAO Land and Water Days
15th-18th December 2013
Amman, Jordan
T4 Session
Presentation Abstract
Groundwater over-abstraction is a vexing issue in most parts of the world and exercising
control over it is a clear challenge to policy-makers, managers and academics alike,
especially given the spatially disperse nature of access points. It can be argued that there are
both limited success stories and a very large diversity of physical, legal and
institutional/cultural contexts, making it difficult to draw lessons or derive recommendations
across the board. Yet, knowledge and experience about governance and policy options from
other countries, and understanding of the conditions in which these options might be feasible
and successful, can help MENA decision-makers as they try to tackle these complex issues.
Furthermore, the gravity of the situation warrants a systematic and wide-ranging approach
that builds on existing knowledge and current experiences in and beyond the region.
This project is intended to address the challenges posed by the unsustainable use of
groundwater in the MENA region in a systematic way. It emphasizes the necessity to take
stock of past experiences in groundwater governance at the world, regional, and local level,
reviewing the laws, regulations, community-based actions, and institutional structures, as well
as their efficacy in controlling access, abstraction and allocation of the resource under varying
circumstances. A multi-scale approach is adopted working from the globe through to the
region to countries and then back out again. The project will support the cross-fertilization of
many ideas from both across the different MENA countries as well as other regions, whilst
contextualizing them in the political, economic, cultural and natural frameworks of reference
for individual states. The project involves six countries in the Middle East whose different
backgrounds and experiences with these issues bring a rich diversity of insights. They include
countries with a substantial history of dealing with groundwater problems (Oman, Yemen,
Jordan, Abu Dhabi, and Tunisia) and countries where groundwater policy concerns are
relatively more recent (Lebanon).