Great Man-Made River Sarir-Sirte and Tazerbo-Benghazi System
Fossil-aquifer conveyance, Design 2 million m3/day; 1,586 km of main conveyance and 339 km of collection lines; 234 production wells and 69 control and test wells; terminal and operating reservoirs of 15.2 million m3, strategic reserves of 39.4 million m3 and upper reservoirs of 510,000 m3; a 90 MW power station at Sarir in Libya.
Landmark The first and largest phase of the Great Man-Made River: 1,586 km of conveyance carrying Saharan fossil water to the coast.
The record
- Country
- Libya
- Location
- Sarir to Benghazi and Sirte
- Coordinates
- —
- Technology
- Fossil-aquifer conveyance
- Capacity
- Design 2 million m3/day; 1,586 km of main conveyance and 339 km of collection lines; 234 production wells and 69 control and test wells; terminal and operating reservoirs of 15.2 million m3, strategic reserves of 39.4 million m3 and upper reservoirs of 510,000 m3; a 90 MW power station at Sarir
- Capital cost
- —
- Stage
- Operational
- Owner or client
- Great Man-Made River Authority
- Contractor
- —
- Operator
- Great Man-Made River Authority
- Finance
- Libyan state, under Law 10 of 1983
- Award or start year
- 1984
- Commissioned
- 1993-09
Record last checked 2026-09-18.
History
- 1983
Great Man-Made River Authority created by Law 11 of 1983
- 1984-08
Groundbreaking at Sarir on 28 August 1984
- 1986-08
Brega prestressed concrete pipe plant opened
- 1989-09
Ajdabiya reservoir first received water
- 1991-09
Omar Mukhtar and Gardabiya reservoirs received water
- 1993-09
System entered partial operation
- 2016-12
Cumulative delivery reported at about 4.45 billion m3
Sources
5 references
Every field in the record above is taken from the references below. A field that none of them confirms prints as a dash.
- Great Man-Made River Authority, Sarir/Sirt and Tazerbo/Benghazi system. gmra.com.ly.
- Design 2 million m3/day from the Tazerbo and Sarir fields; main conveyance 1,586 km and collection system 339 km; 234 production wells and 69 control and test wells with 48 further wells planned at Sarir; upper reservoirs 510,000 m3, terminal and operating reservoirs 15.2 million m3, strategic reserves 39.4 million m3 in two reservoirs; 90 MW power station at Sarir; partial start September 1993; about 4.45 billion m3 supplied cumulatively to 2016. Great Man-Made River Authority, History and evolution of GMMR. gmra.com.ly.
- Authority created by Law 11 of 1983 with funding under Law 10 of 1983; groundbreaking at Sarir on 28 August 1984; Brega pipe plant opened 28 August 1986; second phase launched 26 August 1989; Ajdabiya reservoir first received water 11 September 1989; Omar Mukhtar and Gardabiya reservoirs 4 September 1991; water reached the Sidi Assaiah reservoir in Tripoli 28 August 1996; fourth phase contract signed 10 October 2001; design capacity 4 million m3/day rising to 6.4 million m3/day when complete.
- Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, Achref Chibani, From the River to the Sea, Water Management in Libya, 14 Jul 2022. timep.org.
- MENA Water Review major projects register and PPP pipeline — compiled from procurer publications, development-bank project pages and trade reporting; each record names its source.
States Libya has eight desalination plants, one not operating and the other seven running at about 28 per cent of capacity, and 75 sewage treatment plants of which only 10 operate, treating under 11 per cent of urban wastewater; records the 2020 seizure of a Great Man-Made River control station by an armed group loyal to Khalifa Haftar.