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**Libya’s Great Artificial River Project: The Dream of Turning the Desert into a Green Oasis**
Libya’s Great Artificial River Project is known as the world’s largest irrigation project, once called the “eighth wonder” by the Gaddafi regime. The project’s goal is to bring fresh water from ancient underground aquifers under the Sahara desert to coastal areas for agriculture, daily life and industry.
### Background and reasons for its formation
Libya is a country on the Mediterranean coast, but 90% of the territory is arid desert, with almost no fixed rivers. The average annual rainfall is very low, concentrated in only a few heavy rains in late winter and early spring. This causes most of Libya’s population to concentrate in a narrow coastal strip, where the climate is more pleasant.
Since the 1930s, Libya has faced serious water shortages. However, in 1953, when oil companies were drilling in the south, they unexpectedly discovered huge reserves of fresh water deep underground, in the Nubian aquifer – a fossilized underground lake formed during the ice age, tens of thousands of years ago. This discovery opened up new opportunities for Libya.
### Construction process
In 1983, Gaddafi officially launched the Great Artificial River Project, with a planning of 5 phases. The giant pipeline network is about 4,000 km long, carrying water from 13,000 wells drilled 500m deep in the desert, transporting it to coastal cities and agricultural areas.
– **Phase 1 (GMR1)** completed in 1991, bringing water to Benghazi and Sirte.
– **Phase 2 (GMR2)** in 1996, supplying water to the capital Tripoli. – **Phase 3 (GMR3)** in 2009, expanding the network to 1,200 km, serving northeastern Libya.
The total cost is estimated at 25-30 billion USD, much cheaper than seawater desalination options. The water source from the project is estimated to be enough for hundreds of years.
### Difficulties and challenges
However, after Gaddafi was overthrown in 2011, the project encountered many obstacles:
– **War and political conflicts** caused infrastructure to be attacked and sabotaged.
– **Power outages, lack of maintenance**, many wells and pipelines were damaged or stopped working.
– **Pipeline factory** was destroyed by airstrikes.
By 2019, 101 out of 479 wells in the western system had been disabled.
### An uncertain future
Currently, man-made rivers still provide about 660 million gallons of water per day, accounting for more than 70% of the water needs of major cities. However, with overexploitation and no natural replenishment, experts fear that these fossil water reserves will be depleted before the end of the 21st century.
Libya is facing a difficult choice: either invest in developing seawater desalination technology – although very expensive – or find more efficient water management solutions. Abundant solar power from the Sahara desert could be the key to operating future desalination plants, but any plans require political stability – something Libya does not yet have.
### Conclusion
The Great Artificial River project is a symbol of the ambition to conquer nature, but also a warning about the risks of relying on non-renewable water sources. With climate change and desertification on the rise, ensuring water security will continue to be a life-or-death issue for Libya in the 21st century.
