ABSTRACT
The demise of the water supply of Ta’iz has centred on two main water resource problems. Firstly, the resource base has been declining, and secondly, that resource has become increasingly polluted. This chapter investigates both aspects, but the major part examines the declining groundwater levels in the main aquifer serving the city, that of Al Hayma in order to: provide an understanding of the natural water movement processes; and assess the relative significance of human water use activities. The Al Hayma aquifer comprises a sequence of alluvial materials of all grain sizes but predominantly sands and silts. The area lying within the previous political boundaries of North Yemen may be roughly divided topographically into three zones running north-south: the western coastal strip, flanking the Red Sea, the central highlands, and the eastern slopes descending towards the desert of the Rub’ Al Khali.
