Sana’a may soon face the same nightmare as Taiz — a city where finding a drop of water is a daily struggle. How did the crisis begin? What did decades of research uncover? Why were clear solutions ignored? And how are Yemen’s water resources collapsing under the weight of rapid urban sprawl, shrinking groundwater reserves, and desalination projects that never left the drawing board?

In this urgent episode of the Mujaz podcast, Dr. Ismail Al-Ganad — former Chairman of the Geological Survey and Mineral Resources Board and member of the Sana’a Basin Committee — traces his journey from studying in Europe to founding Yemen’s first geological authority. Along the way, he delivers a stark warning: Sana’a is running out of time.

Highlights:

• Unplanned urban growth and the rapid draining of Sana’a’s water basin
• World Bank studies on Yemen’s water crisis — and why they gathered dust
• The rise and decline of the Yemeni Geological Society
• How failed desalination and sewage projects deepened Taiz’s crisis
• The powerful link between natural resources and political decisions in Yemen