Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 March 2015
Water shortages have led the Libyan authorities to investigate and then develop fossil water resources in the remote south of the country. Initially the development was in situ, but in 1979 it was decided to embark on an ambitious water carrier to bring water from the south-east and the south-west of the country to the settled areas of the northern coast. It is concluded in the paper that Libya will have developed sufficient water by the end of the century to secure its urban and industrial needs. It will also have the option to allocate a similar, or an even greater, quantity to agriculture than at present achieved, but it is argued that such agricultural allocations will not be economically viable.