Chapter
6:
Legal
and
regulatory
framework
of
Water
Law
spelled
out
in
the
license.’
The
Authority
is,
therefore,
the
authority
that
decides,
after
sufficient
consideration
of
the
possible
consequences,
how
much
water
is
allocated
to
the
different
areas.
It
is
then
the
task
of
community-‐based
organizations
to
manage
the
resources
given
in
an
equitable
way
in
line
with
the
requirements
of
the
permit.
6.7.2
Operation
and
maintenance
Shari’ah
includes
several
provisions
on
the
sharing
of
operation
and
maintenance
costs
of
water
infrastructure,
which
are
codified
in
the
Civil
Code.
Article
1367
for
instance
states
that:
‘a
water
channel
owner
must
operate
and
repair
it
so
as
to
remove
the
harm,
which
may
occur
to
the
land
in
which
it
passes
through.
If
the
channel
owner
refuses,
then
the
landowner
may
undertake
and
pay
for
the
repairs
then
claim
the
expenses.
The
law
also
regulated
issues
of
compensation
to
Intermediate
Land,
the
right
of
the
intermediate
land
to
benefit
from
the
passing
structures
(canals
or
pipes)
provided
a
share
of
the
cost
is
paid.’
Also
in
operation
and
maintenance
the
Water
Law
focuses
on
community-‐based
participation.
Community-‐
based
organizations,
such
as
the
WUG,
have
the
responsibility
to
create
their
own
rules
and
regulations
when
it
concerns
operation
and
maintenance.
These
are
then
found
lawful
when
registered
with
the
Authority.
6.7.3
Organization
of
users
The
most
elaborate
organization
systems
in
Yemen
concern
those
of
the
surface
water
sources,
such
as
base
flows,
spring
water
or
surface
reservoirs.
For
these
sources,
well-‐organized
water
management
and
decision-‐
making
processes
exist
based
in
traditions
and
customs,
which
stem
from
Customary
Law
and
Shari’ah.
Groundwater
resources
on
the
other
hand
lack
such
elaborate
systems.
As
mentioned,
water
access
is
assigned
in
proportion
to
contribution
in
construction
and
maintenance,
however,
there
is
no
restriction
protecting
from
over-‐exploitation,
which
in
turn
encourages
competition.
To
deal
with
such
circumstances,
the
Water
Law
introduces
decentralized
community
participation
in
the
form
of
the
WUA.
When
registered
with
the
Authority,
this
organization
constitutes
the
official
stakeholder
54
representation
in
water
management.
The
WUA
has
several
important
tasks.
Firstly,
it
self-‐regulates
and
enforces
groundwater
abstraction
rights
and
secondly
it
implements
and
manages
plans
concerning
55
groundwater.
6.7.4
Quantity
and
quality
protection
provisions
Several
rules
from
Shari’ah
and
customary
law
that
deal
with
quantity
and
quality
protection
are
formulated
in
the
Civil
Code.
Firstly,
a
well-‐known
rule
stipulates
that
when
a
well
is
constructed
considerable
distance
must
56
be
kept
between
the
well
and
neighbour’s
property.
The
distance
required
is,
however,
not
specified.
Secondly,
the
owner
of
a