 Water
scarcity in Tunisia is becoming more and more severe, as a
result of population growth, rising living standards, and
accelerated urbanization, which pose a threat on the
sustainability of water abstractions and agricultural
activities. The escalating urban water demand has led to an
increased utilization of fresh water for domestic purposes
and to the production of larger wastewater volumes. In spite
of the considerable effort for mobilizing water resources, a
strategy which has played a prominent and determinant role
in the mitigation of socio-economic impacts of the last
15-year droughts, farmers continue to overexploit phreatic
water tables at an average rate of 106%. This has resulted
in the current focal problem of groundwater depletion and
salinisation.
Groundwater depletion is the result of low recharge and overexploitation. The current overpumping
patterns are attributed to the operation of illegal
boreholes mostly drilled by farmers for irrigation purposes.
Presently, there is an overall lack of regulation and
control over the operation of private boreholes; the absence
of a framework for abstraction metering is mostly due to
social issues and political pressure from farmers. The
problem is exacerbated by the lack of technical capacity in
the agricultural sector, due to limited application of water
saving methods in irrigation and the current water-intensive
cropping patterns, which lead to wasteful water use. |
Overexploitation of aquifers is expected to impact
negatively the environment and upon agriculture in
general, resulting in groundwater quality degradation (salinisation,
sea intrusion in coastal aquifers), higher groundwater
extraction costs, reduced agricultural production,
desertification and
abandonment of rural areas.
Alternatives and disincentives to groundwater
overexploitation are at present inadequate; water reuse
is barely practiced, due to the low quality of treated
water, soil types and cropping patterns and most importantly
due to the farmers unwillingness to accept and pay for
treated water. Although experiments on aquifer recharge with
treated wastewater have produced encouraging results,
awareness campaigns and government subsidies targeted at
promoting water reuse have thus far proven inadequate,
and, with the exception of public irrigation schemes, they
have not adequately addressed the concerns of end-users.
Tunisia section of the INECO website |
