Yemen’s water availability imbalance is currently bridged by excessive groundwater abstraction.
Yemen is facing a severe water crisis. While the current conflict has markedly increased Yemen’s water scarcity, Yemen was one of the world’s most severely water-stressed countries even before the conflicts. UNDP, through the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), requested Acacia Water to perform a literature review on water resources in Yemen. The current study highlights existing knowledge on water resources, identifies main knowledge gaps and recommendations towards improved water resources management. Specific attention in the literature study is given to three wadi catchments (Hadhramaut, Rima/Siham and Abyan Delta). As field studies in these areas are conducted prior to 2010, the existing data gap has been bridged by an additional unique approach using satellite and remote sensing data to derive updated water balances within the data scarce context of Yemen. The analyses helped to better draft concrete, usable and ready-to-implement recommendations.
