Chapter
8:
Case
studies
in
Wadi
Siham
Some
sheikhs
have
jails.
When
the
research
team
visited
sheikh
Qaserah,
he
pointed
to
a
room
in
his
house
and
explained
that
was
used
as
jail.
A
young
man
was
held
in
the
room
(jail),
because
he
eloped
with
a
local
girl
whose
family
refused
to
accept
his
proposal
to
marry
her.
The
sheikh
is
now
trying
to
come
to
a
solution.
People
can
socialize
in
this
‘jail’,
but
have
moral
obligation
to
abide
by
the
shaikh’s
verdict
(moral
jail).
More
importantly,
a
jail
in
this
sense
is
also
a
form
of
protection
that
the
sheikh
provides.
Without
being
in
this
jail,
the
young
man
and
the
girl
who
eloped
with
him
might
have
been
subject
to
abuse
and
possibly
murder.
The
sheikh
told
the
researcher
that
the
girl
is
in
“jail”
inside
with
her
family.
In
Wadi
Siham,
sheikhs
are
particulary
influential
in
the
lower
parts
of
the
valley,
where
agriculture
developed
first.
There
are
historical
reasons
behind
this.
During
the
time
of
the
Imams,
the
prestige
of
sheikhs
reached
its
climax,
for
the
Imam
bestowed
them
with
powers
and
legitimacy.
From
the
1940s
until
the
1970s,
Shaikh
Suleyman
Saleh
controlled
the
whole
“Wadi
Siham”
area
under
the
Great
Imam
Yahya
and
ruled
until
shortly
after
the
Imamate’s
demise.
When
sensitive
quarrels
occurred,
e.g.,
if
some
rich
farmers
attempted
to
build
new
dams
along
the
wadi
or
to
upset
the
traditional
system
of
water
division
for
their
own
gain,
the
matter
was
brought
before
the
judges
in
Maraw’eah,
who
were
usually
shaikhs.
Whenever
the
local
shaikh
could
not
solve
a
dispute,
he
turned
to
the
Naeb,
a
Governmental
organ
situated
in
Maraw’eah,
where
important
religious
judges
pronounced
the
verdict.
However,
the
shaikhdom/aqilat
in
Wadi
Siham
was
never
as
strong
as
in
other
wadis
or
Yemeni
regions.
Varisco
attributes
this
to
the
ephemeral
nature
of
the
flood:
according
to
him
a
stronger
tribal
structure
emerges
in
areas
where
a
permanent
base
flow
supports
irrigation
practices
(Varisco,
1983).
8.1.4
New
actors
and
institutions
With
the
establishment
of
the
Yemen
Arabic
Republic
in
1962
in
the
North
of
Yemen,
new
institutions
for
water
management
emerged.
Among
the
new
institutions
that
play
a
role
in
the
management
of
surface
and
underground
water
resources
are:
the
Tihama
Development
Authority
(Hudaydah),
which
is
primarily
concerned
with
irrigation
infrastructure
and
extension
services,
and
the
Local
Council
(Maraw’eah)
that
mainly
solve
local
disputes.
Since
its
establishment,
the
TDA
became
the
main
point
of
reference
in
disputes
betwe V