Tunis: Tunisia urgently needs to adopt the water code and set up a national plan to tackle the water crisis, while regularly evaluating it, said Raoudha Gafrej, a doctor and international expert in integrated water resources management and climate change adaptation.

In an interview with TAP, Gafrej said that the revision of this code, which regulates water resources, has taken years (since 2008). It is necessary to promulgate the texts of application as soon as the code is adopted, in order to encourage the creation of the planned institutions (High Water Council, regulatory authority ….), to organise the interventions of the various stakeholders in the water sector and to mobilise the financial resources needed to carry out the planned actions, he added.

Average per capita water consumption in Tunisia is estimated at 430 m3/year and is expected to fall to less than 350 m3 by 2030, according to official data. This is below the threshold of absolute water scarcity, which is set at 500 m3/person/year.

“Cli
mate change, poor governance, overexploitation of resources and disregard for the water cycle and the rights of ecosystems have further aggravated the situation in Tunisia,” she said, calling for scientific indicators and the results of studies to be taken into account in order to develop effective water management strategies.

The expert also addressed the issue of water wastage, which has several facets, including losses recorded in the network of the National Water Distribution Utility (SONEDE), 30% losses, and in the water groups (65%), food wastage, which inevitably means wasting the water used to produce food, and the destruction of surplus crops by some farmers, as has been observed in recent years.

“Saving water and using it rationally is everyone’s responsibility,” she stressed. It is not only about saving the resource itself, but also about avoiding food waste, over-consumption, pollution of water sources and poor waste management.

“Wasting food automatically means wasting the water used to produc
e it,” said Gafrej, pointing out that waste recovery and responsible consumption, including the correct portioning of meals to avoid wastage, are practices that, if generalised, will result in significant water savings.

“Water is a power that should be entrusted to wise structures to manage and preserve it properly, and also to protect the rights of future generations to this common good,” said the expert, calling for a general mobilisation involving government structures, private companies and citizens.

At the international level, Gafrej pointed to the need to reach an agreement on water, similar to the Paris Climate Agreement, which would take into account the impact of climate change on the global water cycle.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse