Water, a key to power and survival in the UAE

Abu Dhabi, the capital and now a sprawling metropolis, would probably never have existed had it not been for the discovery of a single well

Qasr Al Hosn fort in the early days of Abu Dhabi. Hermann Burchardt / Berlin Museum of Ethnography

ABU DHABI // In a region that receives an average of less than 12 centimetres of rainfall a year, water was once the key to survival and a potent tool of power.

Abu Dhabi, the capital and now a sprawling metropolis, would probably never had existed had it not been for the discovery of a single well.

Before the establishment of the UAE, rival tribes fought for control of water wells, so much so that before it became the structure it is today, Qasr Al Hosn was originally a lone watchtower built to defend a well from Bedouin looking for land to settle.

“I like to think that perhaps living the way we did and controlling all sorts of problems that existed not only between the various sheikhs – such as smuggling, arguments over gardens, arguments over water wells – that we brought peace and serenity to the area,” says Michael Curtis, a member of the Trucial Oman Scouts, a paramilitary force supported by the British in the 1950s.

A reliable water supply was the impetus behind a migration of people from the deserts of greater Abu Dhabi into urban communities. This was true not only for Abu Dhabi, but Dubai and Al Ain too.

In an environment where the discovery of oil changed the lives of everyone living in the region, the discovery of water made life possible in the first place.

But aside from serving the obvious purpose of quenching thirst, water wells were used by Bedouin as landmarks and navigational benchmarks through the inhospitable landscape.

“We knew exactly how many wells there were on our way, like petrol stations, to refill on water,” said Mohammed bin Touq, 60, a Bedu who remembers life in the desert.

“Basically it’s all about walking from one water point to another,” said Sam McConnell, a desert guide and expedition leader. “The Bedouin know where the wells and springs are.”

Finding and digging wells, however, was a different matter as experience and animals were usually the only indication of where water would probably be found underground.

According to the Water Heritage in the UAE report published by Abu Dhabi Culture and Heritage and Al Qasr Al Hosn Cultural Quarter Hall, desert dwellers would look for wide and low terrain where camels congregated. Camels were supposedly able to sense the presence of water.

Rain collected between desert dunes would seep into the ground and settle above layers of sedimentary rock beneath the surface.

But speculating did not guarantee finding water and work to dig a well in those days was done mostly by hand over long periods of time.

Wells, traditionally called “tawi”, took about a week to dig, according to Water Heritage in the UAE.

The report said that the lining of wells developed over time with Bedouin using desert plants, such as palms, and branches of indigenous species to line the walls to stop the water seeping out.

At other times, however, digging a well was a one-man job taking much longer.

“It’s a one-man process that takes on average four to five months,” Mr Touq said. “The groundwater table wasn’t very deep back then so you could even find water one metre into the ground.”

The legacy of finding water endured because whoever dug a successful well would be rewarded with his name on it.

But the concept of well ownership did not exist to Bedouin groups until much later, as wells were considered a public good for all to use because of the scarcity of the resource.

Tribes at the time lived under a law established by the Prophet Mohammed stating that “people are partners in three things, water, hay and fire”.