Timimoun is located in the hyper-arid zone of the Sahara, with an annual rainfall not exceeding 100 mm/ year. To fill the shortage of rainfall, the oasis has developed a traditional means for mobilization of the groundwater. In the foggara with this hydraulic system, oases have been developed throughout the region of Timimoun over ten centuries. Today, we witness the gradual disappearance of foggaras; we lose about one to two foggaras per year for over half a century.
This article discusses for the first time a study on the connection and interconnection of qanats located in the Algerian Sahara. During the missions in the oases of Touat and Gourara in 2009, 2010 and 2011, we have been impressed by the complexity of the network of water distribution. The seguias of differents sections take all the senses. Connections are made between qanats to ensure water supply to each owner. In this study, we identified nine models for connecting qanats.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.