The Sustainability of Yemen’s Water Resources: an Annotated Bibliography

The Republic of Yemen is one of the world's most water-stressed nations. Yemen relies heavily on badly maintained water infrastructure and unsustainable groundwater abstraction to meet most of its water needs. The extraction of groundwater through drilling pumps is considered unsustainable, as abstraction rates are said to be twice as high as the rate of recharge of the aquifers. Women and girls, residents of rural areas, and poorer households are disproportionately affected by water scarcity. Moreover, the conflict that started in 2015 has intensified water scarcity and worsened an already existing cholera epidemic through attacks on water infrastructure and a blockade of Yemen’s coastal ports. Despite having three transboundary groundwater aquifers shared with other countries in the Arabian Peninsula, Yemen has no formal treaties or cooperation agreements that govern their use.