In Tunisia, the desert wells are essential for watering nomadic caravans and livestock. Their gradual abandonment has led a collective of architects to form an association to preserve these traditional and heritage irrigation tools. Through the photographic narrative of the wells in southern Tunisia, a whole mapping of the ecological issues surrounding water emerges.
A lime-washed well, with a simple design featuring only a bucket and a pulley, in the middle of sandy dunes. In the photographic exhibition "Land of wells," presented at space 32bis in downtown Tunis, the various images taken by photographer M'hammed Kilito help to understand the importance of these irrigation tools over nearly a century. They are testimonies of the nomadic habitat in the region.
“Our project around the wells began when we became interested in the nomadic footprints that still existed in the desert. Since colonization in 1881, these populations have gradually settled down, sometimes against their will. But today, there is only one nomadic tribe left between Tunisia and Algeria, the Rebya,” explains Vanessa Lacaille, one of the architects.
Traveling through the Grand Erg Oriental, the Chott Djerid, and the Jebel Dahar, the mountainous terrain bordering Algeria in southern Tunisia, the architects discover that most of these traces rely on wells, old or modern, scattered by the hundreds across the vast desert. “Some are just discernible through a small brick wall with the horizontal bar that holds the pulley with the rope and the bucket. Others are a kind of cistern, the 'Fesquiels.' We also see that some were connected to watering troughs with shade structures under which animals would gather, so they are truly essential elements of life in the desert,” explains another architect, Hamad Kriouane.
Witnesses of changes in the desert
Others have been completely buried in sand or left abandoned. The most archaic, the sumps, were dug directly near a wadi. A few meters deep, they are dry for a good part of the year and are replenished only by rain. The more “permanent” ones are those dug to reach the water table, over 250 meters deep. Some wells are sheltered by a dome-shaped structure that can serve as a storage space and whose structure acts as a barrier against the risk of sand filling.
Supplied by a sophisticated drilling system, the most modern ones testify to the human activity that still persists in these hostile areas. For work, particularly continuous drilling in the water table to build new cities, or palm groves intended for the cultivation and export of dates, one of the country's main economic resources.
Some wells have particular characteristics. Like that of El Faouar, one of the few that draws from the intercalary water table, thousands of meters underground. The water drawn there is very hot, sulfurous, and salty; it must therefore pass through a cooler.
“Near this structure, a camping van is parked next to the only palm tree that has survived the disappearance of an oasis. Austrian campers have set up their quarters here, in search of desert roses,” can be read in "Land of wells," the eponymous book of the exhibition. It retraces the journey that these architects undertook to map and attempt to restore and preserve certain wells.
“That is why we decided to organize the exhibition. The idea was to catalog the existence of these wells, but also to testify to the impact of climate change and urban activity in the desert,” explains Mounir Ayoub.
The memory of the desert
In addition to the problems of desertification, the artificial cities currently under construction and based on monoculture and intensive agriculture also threaten the meager water resources of the region with extraction systems powered by photovoltaic panels. “This system often draws too much water at once. So, once the palms are watered, the rest of the water is discarded and stagnates or evaporates,” explains Mounir Ayoub.
“These are very problematic situations, because on one hand we have oases that are withering due to their dried-up wells, but on the other hand, we find these new artificial farms and palm groves that consume the resource,” he adds. Hence the importance of preserving and repairing existing wells rather than building new ones, according to him.
“We remain observers of all these changes. Our role is not to judge, but perhaps to encourage that all of this be more regulated. By showing precisely the importance of a living, minimalist, and already existing environment,” concludes the architect. After the completion of the Bir Ettin well project, life resumed on its own; birds, camels, and residents all returned naturally to this water point.
A country, wells to restore and repair
Fadhil Midéni, a tourist operator in the south, recounts. . “Our grandparents were desert nomads. Our parents made a living through date harvesting or working in oil and phosphate. We work in tourism, but each of us knows how to navigate the desert. When we leave, this knowledge may fade away with us.”
The name given to this living area in the desert is called “Bled el Abar,” the land of wells. Indeed, it is the typology of these wells that traces the routes in the desert and the landmarks. About a hundred have been cataloged by the collective of architects, because although all are officially managed by the Tunisian Ministry of Agriculture, it remains difficult to obtain accurate data on their number and which ones are still operational. Their maintenance and upkeep often leave much to be desired, as evidenced by the photographs.
Hence the project led by the architects to restore one of these water points. “We discussed extensively with the last farmers and nomadic shepherds in the region to determine which well to repair. And so that they could also ensure its maintenance at a low cost,” explains Mounir Ayoub, one of the architects. In a few days, with workers, they cleared the sand from the selected well and rebuilt its brick wall, in Bir Ettin, near several oases, a mausoleum, and a few villages.
“This well had been buried in sand for some time, so the shepherds and families from the nearby villages had to travel twice the usual distance to find a water point,” explains Mounir. The workers also built a barrier made of palm fronds near the well, a kind of natural rampart to counter the effects of sandstorms or the advance of the desert.
This problem of wells being buried in sand also affects ecosystems. Some wild camels find themselves wandering and approaching villages, unable to find a water point. After five days of work, this well, dating back to the 1990s, became operational again, with water found at about 18 meters deep. “That is also why we organized the exhibition. We hope to attract funding to repair other structures,” concludes Mounir.
Cover Photo: Many wells are left abandoned © M'hammed Kilito