The government is considering another series of measures to deal with the prolonged drought and the dwindling water resources of dams, some of which are in a critical situation with an estimated 25% of their water reserves depleted, Ridha Gabouj, secretary of state for water resources said on Monday. Speaking at a national conference organised by the Ministry of Agriculture, Water Resources and Fisheries to mark the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Gabouj said that the authorities were monitoring the water situation in the country on a daily basis in order to meet demand, particularly for drinking water. He stressed the need to be prepared, to study all possible scenarios and to strengthen the sector's resilience and adaptation to the new situation created by climate change. Since 2016, Tunisia has experienced successive periods of drought, with the exception of 2019, when above-average rainfall was recorded, but rainfall has become scarce, with implications for water reserves in dams, he noted at the conference, held on the theme "the place of human rights in the strategies of the Ministry of Agriculture, Water Resources and Fisheries in the drinking water.» The Secretary of State said that the new draft Water Code had been updated and would be submitted to the Presidency of the Government and then to the Assembly of People's Representatives, stressing that this Code had given greater importance to issues of governance, protection of public water resources, deterrence and management of extreme situations such as droughts and floods. Gabouj called for the preservation of groundwater, 75% of which is used to meet water needs, noting that one of the objectives of the revision of the legislation was to increase penalties for violators in order to prevent resources from drying up on a daily basis. He stressed the importance of the agricultural sector to the country's prosperity, given its significant contribution to the country's GDP and exports (11%) and employment (14%). Gabouj pointed out that connection to drinking water networks has reached 100% in urban areas and 95% in rural areas, covering 75% of households. Despite technical and legislative difficulties, numerous projects have been planned to bring water to the remaining unserved areas and to improve services in other regions, he said, noting that the value of major projects has reached 7 million dinars, of which 4,500 million dinars concern drinking water projects, confirming the absolute priority given to this sector.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse