Russia’s Rosgeologia Searches for Underground Water in Libya’s Sahara

Russia’s state geological company Rosgeologia is searching for underground water beneath Libya’s Sahara Desert, a project presented as a possible new route for addressing the country’s strained water infrastructure.

Russian Natural Resources Minister Aleksandr Kozlov announced the exploration in comments to Sputnik. Rosgeologia is using geological mapping and exploration techniques to look for deep aquifers that have not yet been tapped.

The search comes as Libya faces acute water scarcity. The country has no permanent natural rivers, and more than 70% of its population relies entirely on non-renewable fossil water pumped from deep desert aquifers.

The effort also touches on Libya’s troubled water infrastructure. The Great Man-Made River system has faced disruption after an armed tribal group forced the shutdown of the MMR, cutting water to 3 million people. Sputnik said an earlier project was never completed, and a factory producing concrete pipes for the river near Brega was hit by a NATO airstrike in 2011.

Exploration is taking place alongside broader regional efforts to manage shared water resources. Libya recently signed the Tripoli Declaration with Algeria and Tunisia, agreeing to share the massive North-Western Sahara Aquifer System equitably.