At least twice, historians believe, Wadi Faynan was abandoned. The firsttime possibly because of a sharp change in the climate, and later becauseit became too polluted. Today, Bedouin who survive in the valley havelaid pipes down the dry stream bed to suck what is left of the spring inorder to irrigate fields of tomatoes they have scratched out of the dry soil.But it's getting harder. According to local water lore, good rains nowcome in less than every other year.