libya Af an estimated cost of $35 billjon, Libya is building .one of
ti}.e most ~xtenSIY~ water systems In die hIstory of the world. The project plans to carry water from the vast fossil aquifers of the Kufra and Sareer Basins under the Sahara to the Mediterranean coastal region where 90 percent of the population Jive. Libya is already mining 35 billion cubic feet of water annually and when the system is fully operational expects to reap 1,400 billion cubic feet each year-which could empty the aquifers in as little as 40 years. According to photographer Luca Zanetti, nomadic Tuaregs who live in northwestern Libya say that the water table is already falling, because some of their wells are drying OLlt. Libyan head of state Moammar Gadhafi calls the project the "Great Man-Made
