A significant man-made river project, considered one of the largest irrigation schemes globally, is set to undergo further development with a new £5.1 billion phase. The Great Man-Made River (GMMR) initiative is an impressive engineering accomplishment in the African desert, designed to transport ancient water to a water-scarce North African country due to its harsh climate.
Covering the entirety of Libya’s land, the Great Man-Made River Project aims to access “fossil water” from a vast underground reservoir called the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System (NSAS), which dates back to the previous ice age.
The NSAS, situated beneath the Sahara Desert and regions of Libya, Egypt, Chad, and Sudan, is among the oldest and largest aquifers on Earth, holding substantial freshwater reserves. Discovered in 1953 during oil exploration, plans for the GMMR emerged in the late 1960s.
Funded by the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who hailed it as the “eighth wonder of the world,” the GMMR reportedly had a budget of $25 billion (£18.5 billion). The massive budget reflects the vast amount of materials required for the project, with enough raw materials to construct “20 Great Pyramids of Giza.”
The Great Man-Made River Authority (GMMRA) estimates the use of approximately five million tonnes of cement and steel wires long enough to circle the earth 280 times. The project is divided into five main phases, with the first one completed in 1991, covering 1,750 miles of functional pipelines and an additional 2,485 miles in various stages, with a daily water capacity of around 1.7 billion gallons.
The fifth phase, nearing completion as of December 2025, is expected to cost $7 billion and will extend coverage to rural and northern areas that are currently underserved. Challenges faced during the project include disruptions caused by the 2011 civil war, leading to funding cuts, power supply issues, infrastructure damage, and difficulties in importing spare parts.
The GMMR was developed to provide water to Libya’s densely populated coastal regions, offering an alternative to the overexploited coastal aquifers and costly desalination processes. The GMMRA regards the project as crucial and strategic, addressing water shortage issues in Libya.
However, concerns about economic sustainability and the finite nature of the resource have been raised, with projections indicating potential water scarcity issues within this century.