Strategy of water resources mobilization and development in Tunisia
(1990-2000)
• Objecives
• Implemantation program
• Main studies on water
• Long-term strategic orientations
• Program of future actions
The use of conventional water resources in Tunisia will reach its limits in the near future. Being fully aware of this situation, Tunisia has adopted a strategy to develop resources and secure a better control of demands in various socio-economic sectors. This strategy’s main objectives consist to:
• Satisfy water supply for drinking all over the country.
• Extend irrigated areas and rationalize irrigation waters.
• Satisfy industrial, tourism and environmental water demands.
• The protection against floods and droughts.
• The sustainable and fair use of water resources and their preservation against all types of pollution.
In order to achieve these objectives, a set of measures was adopted :
• To mobilize all water resources which can mobilized ;
• To use the most of ground resources which can be used ;
• To identify new resources in areas where surface water is not yet well controlled and ground water not well evalued;
• To adopt a wide strategy of water economy and the use of non conventional water agriculture and industrial fields;
• To follow up the quantity and quality of water resources ;
• To develop the artificial recharge of groundwater with surface and reclaimed water.
While mobilizing new water resources, Tunisia has initiated several reforms in the water sector aiming at a in order to introduce a progressive demand management based on the following :
Implementation program
This program includes:
• Drilling 1150 deep wells in order to reconize and mobilize 170 Mm3/y as new resources, and 1110 other deep wells to mobilize 290 Mm3/y.
• Drilling 1300 piezometers in order to control and manage of ground water.
• System aquifers-developping networks systems in order to improve and safe the quality of water resources.
• Ground water artificial recharge should be apply throught the country.
• Artificial refill of ground waters, this action is considered , from the beginning of the strategy, as a mobilization in order to preserve and improve ground water aquifers. More than 300 Mm3/y of surface water should be recharged.
• Adopting price setting systems which are adapted to the drinking water sector and that of irrigation in order to improve costs recovery and encourage the economic valorizing of available resources.
• developing programs of water economy in the water drinking sector and that of irrigation for a better preservation of resources.
• The active contribution of users to the management of water through water associations.
• Valorizing non conventional water resources through the re-use of treated waste water in agriculture and the desalination of brackish waters for drinking water use.
• Preserving the quality of resources against pollution through a large purification program
In order to better implement this new strategy and to establish the adjustment between offers and demands, economic, financial, environmental and institutional aspects ; Tunisia has carried main studies as following:
• " Water economy » (1990-1995) : the main objective of this study is to suggest a water management strategy in order to satisfy water demands at the national and regional levels during coming decades.
•" The strategy of natural resources " the fundamental objective of this study is to design the evolution of a rational and sustainable use of available natural resources.
• " The long-term strategy of water » (2030) : it aims at identifying the evolution of water offer and demands up antill the year 2030, and the future water challenges in Tunisia. Moreover, this study recommends measures and actions in order to delay, as far as possible, the reuse of costly non conventional waters.
• The study of water sector which objective is to analyze the key issues of water resources management and to provide some technical, economic and institutional options to be applied as a baseline for a long term strategy of water resources management.
The analysis of key issues relating to the management of water resources is based on three strategic axis:
• The management of demands decentralizing and involving users.
• The integrated management of water resources.
• The preservation of resources and environmental protection .
The management of demands
The world experience showed that managing the offer while overshadowing the management of demands causes fault decisions on investments which are not related "conform" to real situation at the long–term period.
In brief, the management of water demands consists in finding mechanisms which can reconcile highly antagonistic objectives : to conserve resources, to secure the economic efficiency, to preserve social fairness and above all to secure the political feasibility.The definition of the water demand management and the respective roles of the various partners ( administration and users) is closely linked to the following context :
• limited water offer
• natural limits
• limited implementation means
• socio-economic growth ( increase of water needs ).
Integrated and joint management of resources
Because surface water are characterized by a highly unpredictable aspect, the available stock of ground waters may substantially increase the offer during drought years. The excess of surface water of rainy years can be used by artificial recharge, for the overuse of ground water during droughts and limitnegative impact and drop of the piezometric level, and the degradation of the ground water quality.
Resorting to non conventional water resources, treated wastewater and brakich water will be more and more necessary mainly when a shortage is declared and offer restrictions are announced. The global objective of water resources integrated management consist in exploiting water coming from any source to any use without the need to observe any origin constraint. In order to achieve this objective, it is necessary to reach a consistent and acceptable quality for the various uses.
The success of the integrated management concept depends on two facts :
• The economic convergence (rise demand, supply and price setting) of alternative resources management.
• Investing in necessary infrastructures ( transfer and distribution, treatment, recharge ground waters …) and means to manage integrated systems.The quantity and quality conservation of water resources and ecosystems becomes a crucial issue. The use of water resources will, inevitably, affect the ecosystem.
The strategy should find the adequate measures to reduce the pollution of oueds, coasts and groundwater by all types of pollutants and assess costs.
• Completion of the program on water resources mobilization
• Integrated management of water resources
• Management of water demands
• Development of non conventional resources
• Preserving and protecting resources.In order to implement this program, a large-scale program was launched in 2001 : the project of investments of water sector(PISEAU, 2001-2005)financed by the world bank.
Objectives and description of the PISEAU project
The project of investments in water sector(PISEAU, 2001-2005) is the first project of two consecutive projects which are integrated into the 10th development plan and aim at introducing a series of reforms and investments for the implementation of demand management methods which comply with the new water strategy. The PISEAU project includes 5 pillars, out of which 3 ( (1,2 and 4) are investment pillars, the others (3 and 5) are considered as support pillars.
Pillar 1 : Irrigation management:
It includes :
• Setting up small-size irrigated areas irregated by deep wells.
• Setting up pilot irrigated disserved by treated wastewater.
• Modernizing and rehabilitating old irregated areas.
• Rehabilitating irrigated areas by introducing the use of geothermal waters .
• Drainage facilities for some irrigated areas.
• Electrification of the pumping system in deep wells (for drinking water and /or irrigation) in order to reduce the energy and upkeep costs.
• setting up water points in order to strengthen hydraulic infrastructures.
• Drilling deep wells.
• Setting up spreading areas for flood waters.
Pillar 2 : Managing ground water.
This pillar will fund following actions :
• Drilling deep wells and piezometers.
• Saving and rehabilitating existing piezometers and deep wells .
• Developing the infrastructure of artificial recharge of ground water by surface water.
• Funding pilot projects of artificial recharge by treated wastewaters.
• Funding a number of experimental or research projects in water sector hold by several departments of the Ministry of agriculture and others.
Pillar 3 : Water conservation and environmental protection:
This pillar will be based on two main activities :
• Control of water resources ( quantity and quality) .
• Protection of water resources and soils. The PISEAU project allows to define a number of sub-projects and research activities.
• Updating the inventory of main pollution sources « hot points » and setting up a water quality follow up network.
• Funding information, education and awareness.
• Setting up new institutional provisions for the management of water pollution related issues.
Pillar 4 : Supply of drinking water :
This pillar of rural drinking water supply aims at providing around 100.000 inhabitants with drinking water over a 3-year period (2001 - 2003) in order to increase the access of rural areas to drinking water from 78 % to 90 % before the end of the 10th plan (2006).
Pillar 5 : Reinforcing institutions and capacities :
Passing from an offer management strategy to a demand management strategy requires new skills and capacities to implement the PISEAU project 1 and the PISEAU 2 afterwards.
Therefore, this pillar will make it easier to build new capacities ( water economy, information systems, marketing and marketing, participative management, maintenance, ….) mostly based on planning and management of water demands while reinforcing regulations and the supervision of strategic planning. The PISEAU project. Such units may progress to become in the future cross sector reflection and planning units. A special effort will be also considered for Water Associations, NGOs and private companies working in the water sector.
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