One of the first constraints is the low rainfall in Algeria as it is said previously. The annual amount of rain in the North varies between 300 and 1000 mm.Whereas in the Sahara, and southwards the Saharian Atlas, it is below 100 mm.

The mobilization of ground waters, except those resources still available in the south (and non renewable), hold in what is called the Albian sheet, are nearly quite achieved. The issue on this matter should be seriously considered, in order to protect the environment, and to preserve the natural resources .The important use of the ground water by agriculture (some times by illicit pumpings) must be highly surveyed and reorganized.

The building of dams has started in the late eighties, and is still carrying-on. We expect that, in the forthcoming twenty five years, nearly all the mobilzable surface waters will be mobilized by dams. The ministry of water resources is now studying the possibility of using desalination waters, exploiting the Algeria’s large coast of about one thousand kilometres since its major cities are ports. The idea would be to use desalinated water for the urban and industrial coasts’ needs, and the ground and surface waters for the inside country.

This will need an important effort for renovating the existing networks, which losses are estimated at nearly 50% that is enormous in regard to the relative scarcity of water. A program financed by the ministry has started for Algiers, Oran and Constantine, the three major cities of the country and it is expected to be extended to, at least, ten other important cities.

Another important effort has also to be made in the management of water resources, according to the necessity of the environment preservation. The Algerienne des Eaux, created in 2004, in charge of the drinking water networks of Algeria, should become more professional in reducing the water leaks, and in the recovery of its costs. In this field, a technical and economical assistance from foreign companies is being prepared through international tenders. The first has started in Algiers in 2006, with Suez Environnement (France). Other contracts are in preparation for Oran, Constantine and Annaba.

Another problem is the lack of information about the real economical value of water, and its real operating costs. There is no general cost accounting in the companies previously in charge of water management, and now, the Algerienne Des Eaux is too young to hold this kind of full information. This field of knowledge should be strongly dealt with in the next years.

The price of water is decided by the national authority. As there is no real information about the costs, and the costs of a reasonable management (not still defined), there is no way to decide about the consumer if he pays or not the real cost of this water. We will face in the future years the problem of pollution, for two major reasons:

• The strong urbanization make cities become major pollutants of the rivers (most of them are oueds, which means they are dry in summer). The program of building sewage treatment plants is very late, and for the moment, only cities have a sewage plant.
• The development of agriculture, allowed in the nineties, after a long socialist period, has caused a major use of fertilizers which is now clearly observed in the increasing nitrates in both surface and in ground waters.  This development has also generated an outburst of wells’ construction, lot of them having been realized without legal authorization. An effort of census has been decided in 2006, but it seems to be a hard job of water policy, regarding to the estimated number of these illegal wells (several thousands).

In the same way, data systems about water have to be created and maintained, as necessarily as analysis tools, and information systems. An effort has been made in the five past years, at the national level (ministry), but also at the regional level (basin agencies), in order to collect and organize all the existing data in the water sector. In the same approach, simulation tools about resources and demands are being settled in the basin agencies.

The participation of the different actors is also very weak, the main decisions being taken at a national level. Basin committees have been created in 1996, at the same time as basin agencies. They are not fully efficient for the moment.