Foggara El Kbira Gourara Adrar
International Decade of Action on Water and Sustainable Development 2018-2028:
On December 21, 2016, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the resolution (A/RES/71/222) “International Decade of Action on Water and Sustainable Development (2018 – 2028)” starting on World Water Day on March 22, 2018. The Decade aims to provide an international framework for coordination and promotion in favor of access to water and sanitation for all by 2030.
Definition of “the Foggara”:
La Foggara is an ancestral water mobilization structure, composed of wells for the capture of groundwater, drained mainly for irrigation purposes towards the oases. This system gave a particular appearance to the economy of the oases.
Origin of the word Foggara:
This traditional process of capturing and channeling water has been established in the peripheral areas of the Grand Erg Occidental, more particularly in Touat, Gourara and Tidikelt.
Researchers agree that the word Foggara is foreign to the region, several versions of its origins exist:
a -According to the Adrar guide, the word Foggara comes from “poverty” (الفقر);
b- Another version reveals that the word Foggara is relative to “fakra (الفقرة)”: the vertebra.
Origin of the “Foggara” system:
Some historians believe that this unique water system appeared in ancient Persia and several other regions such as the Middle East, China and Latin America, in the 3rd century BC under the name "KANAT- قناة". Iranian historians believe that Foggara originated in Iran, appearing in the southwest of the Algerian Sahara more than 10 centuries ago.
The importance of Foggara:
The importance of the Foggaras for the Oasis is not limited to irrigation and the supply of drinking water. The social organization which revolves around the distribution of the waters of the Foggara as well as the TWIZAs organized during maintenance work make it possible to strengthen the links between families in the region.
Foggara is therefore for Touat, Gourara and Tidikelt:
- A stability factor;
- A permanent water source;
- A main component of economic and social development.
The TOUAT region: Touat is a region in the west of the Algerian Sahara, located southwest of the Grand Erg Occidental, in the wilaya of Adrar. It is bounded to the northwest by the Grand Erg Occidental, by the Gourara region and the Tademaït plateau, to the east, by the Tidikelt plain, to the south and west, by Erg Chech.
The GOURARA region: Gourara is a region located north of Adrar. It is made up of a set of oases and surrounded by the Grand Erg (to the north), the Touat and the Saoura (to the west) and the Tadmaït plateau (to the south and east). It is an immense flat and stony expanse which separates it from Tidikelt (to the south - Aïn Salah region).
The TIDIKELT region: Tidikelt is in the heart of the Sahara, it is bounded to the west by the Touat and the lower extension of the Saoura valley; to the east, the Tassili n'Ajjer; to the north Tademaït and to the south the plains at the foot of the Mouydir and Ahnet mountains. It extends over an area of approximately 100,000 km2.
On December 21, 2016, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the resolution (A/RES/71/222) “International Decade of Action on Water and Sustainable Development (2018 – 2028)” starting on World Water Day on March 22, 2018. The Decade aims to provide an international framework for coordination and promotion in favor of access to water and sanitation for all by 2030.
Definition of “the Foggara”:
La Foggara is an ancestral water mobilization structure, composed of wells for the capture of groundwater, drained mainly for irrigation purposes towards the oases. This system gave a particular appearance to the economy of the oases.
Origin of the word Foggara:
This traditional process of capturing and channeling water has been established in the peripheral areas of the Grand Erg Occidental, more particularly in Touat, Gourara and Tidikelt.
Researchers agree that the word Foggara is foreign to the region, several versions of its origins exist:
a -According to the Adrar guide, the word Foggara comes from “poverty” (الفقر);
b- Another version reveals that the word Foggara is relative to “fakra (الفقرة)”: the vertebra.
Origin of the “Foggara” system:
Some historians believe that this unique water system appeared in ancient Persia and several other regions such as the Middle East, China and Latin America, in the 3rd century BC under the name "KANAT- قناة". Iranian historians believe that Foggara originated in Iran, appearing in the southwest of the Algerian Sahara more than 10 centuries ago.
The importance of Foggara:
The importance of the Foggaras for the Oasis is not limited to irrigation and the supply of drinking water. The social organization which revolves around the distribution of the waters of the Foggara as well as the TWIZAs organized during maintenance work make it possible to strengthen the links between families in the region.
Foggara is therefore for Touat, Gourara and Tidikelt:
- A stability factor;
- A permanent water source;
- A main component of economic and social development.
The TOUAT region: Touat is a region in the west of the Algerian Sahara, located southwest of the Grand Erg Occidental, in the wilaya of Adrar. It is bounded to the northwest by the Grand Erg Occidental, by the Gourara region and the Tademaït plateau, to the east, by the Tidikelt plain, to the south and west, by Erg Chech.
The GOURARA region: Gourara is a region located north of Adrar. It is made up of a set of oases and surrounded by the Grand Erg (to the north), the Touat and the Saoura (to the west) and the Tadmaït plateau (to the south and east). It is an immense flat and stony expanse which separates it from Tidikelt (to the south - Aïn Salah region).
The TIDIKELT region: Tidikelt is in the heart of the Sahara, it is bounded to the west by the Touat and the lower extension of the Saoura valley; to the east, the Tassili n'Ajjer; to the north Tademaït and to the south the plains at the foot of the Mouydir and Ahnet mountains. It extends over an area of approximately 100,000 km2.