Water in an Oasis

It is with salt that the ancient Siwans built their homes. Karshif, a Siwan mud infused with salt, was used to construct homes seven and eight stories high. The salt allows the mud to retain a solid, cement-like structure when dry. It almost never rains heavily or for more than a few hours in the desert oasis of Siwa. When it does, roughly every 50 years, the floods dissolve the salt, and the houses collapse.

“I remember when I lived with my big family—my father, mother, brothers, sisters—one night it rained all night long, and that night my father didn’t sleep at all,” Mahdi Hweity said between long sips of mint tea. As one born and raised in Siwa, educated in Alexandria and positioned to speak to Siwa’s international visitors, Mahdi holds an interesting perspective on the environmental constraints faced by a shifting Siwan population.

Siwa is the northernmost oasis in a string of desert oases from middle Egypt to Tripoli, Libya. It’s nearly 400 miles west of Egypt’s Nile Valley and 30 miles east of Libya.

Siwa’s history is ancient. The oldest human footprint is said to have been found here. The cliff notes of written history look something like this: From the 22nd to 26th Egyptian Dynasty, Siwa’s Oracle of Jupiter Ammon grew in fame; Siwa fell under Roman rule from 30BC to 2nd century; In 331 B.C. Alexander the Great traveled by caravan through the Western Desert for roughly 10 days (from Marsa Matruh on the Mediterranean coast) to reach Siwa, where the Oracle confirmed Alexander a son of the gods.

The period between the 2nd to 12th century is ambiguous. A clear record of who lived in Siwa and what they did is missing. Many believe this is due to Siwa’s historical and geographic significance as a major trade route and way station for those traveling across Africa and the Middle East. It was one of the most well-established oases in the Saharan-Western Desert belt, and many smaller, nomadic tribes may have moved through the area.

Berber history in Siwa began around the 12th century and has remained firmly rooted ever since. Siwa, due to its isolation, has always remained separated and distinct from the rest of Egypt. Siwa is a spring-fed oasis in the Great Sand Sea near Egypt’s border with Libya.

Mahdi Hweity’s family, he tells me, traces its lineage to the beginning of Siwa’s Berber settlement. The Hweities built their home on top of the old Shali fortress.

Siwa’s problem with water is that there’s actually too much of it flowing and not enough drainage. Siwa averages 18 meters below sea level, and many of its springs drain into the surrounding salt lakes. This causes the salt water levels to rise, destroying homes and claiming large tracts of once arable land.

“Yes, Siwa has too much water. And you know why that is?”

I let Mahdi explain.

A long time ago, Siwa had 200 water springs irrigating gardens directly around the springs. Each spring was divided between families. Between family gardens were water canals that drew borders. Each spring, “Hassam” went around Siwa to tell each family what days and hours each family could irrigate. Irrigation per family might only take place every two weeks. The Hassam was paid for his services solely in date harvests. Water in Siwa flowed from round spring to canal to salt lake.

In the past, up until 1972, there was not an issue with too much water, Mahdi emphasizes. In 1972 a Baharian man (from a neighboring oasis) arrived with metal pipes, and he hand-dug them into the ground to increase Siwa’s irrigation. The people of Siwa thought it wonderful. Everyone wanted to dig a personal spring. By 1997 Siwans had dug 1600 new springs. These were not controlled, and people irrigated their land around the clock. This caused the salt lakes to rise. This caused the water table to rise. Many people with carpets on their floors began to notice their carpets were wet.

After people realized the problem in 1997, most of Siwa’s springs were officially closed. Larger, deeper springs were dug with canals to share water between families.

Q: What water do you drink?

The water that Siwan’s traditionally drank is close to the surface. It’s salty, and this has caused kidney problems. In 1991 the first commercially produced mineral water arrived to Siwa. A Russian oil company had been drilling nearby at Bier Wahid and found water. The government then dug deep wells to harvest this spring water. Siwa now has four deep wells that provide its tap water. Because these wells are drilled a kilometer down into the earth, they produce good quality water. The spring water at this depth is 42C. The factories that harvest this water have to filter dust and control the minerals.

Most homes in Siwa have deep spring tap water, Mahdi tells me, but you have to set the water out for a while before you drink it. “Direct tap water has dust, it’s not OK.” You need to put the water in a plastic jerry can—or in iron—and leave it out for two days. Then the water is clear, clean.

Q: What dust?

“Mud, sand, something green. When you dig so far down between rock there is dust. Before the water was more clear, but now after so much drilling there’s more dust.”

Q: Do the water companies (Hayat, Siwa, Aqua) pay for the water they extract from Siwa?

“No. The companies pay the cost of the drilling and pumping, then take the water for free. What does Siwa get? Jobs. Each company may give 100 jobs to Siwans. That’s 100 Siwan families getting paid for an easy factory job.”

The fourth water factory in Siwa, Safi, stopped drilling when it ran into a permit problem with the military.

During a pause in our conversation, Mahdi shifts positions for a better view over the balcony. “You see what’s in the back of this small blue truck?” he asks. “In front of the police station. There.” He points.

I look across the street and see a truck delivering bottled mineral water idling in front of the police station.

“You know what is backsheesh?” Mahdi asks with a smile.

I ask Mahdi if he sees any potential solutions to Siwa’s rising salt water lakes. He considers for a moment before answering.

“To keep the soil healthy for vegetation, Siwa must let its salt water run off to a lower depression. But where? Siwa is 18 meters below sea level. There have been proposals to divert Siwa’s water, but Siwans don’t want this. They say the 21st century will be fighting over water—even water that’s a little bit salty.”

Western Desert Preview

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