Tunisia faces worsening water crisis as demand exceeds supply
Tunisia is witnessing a worsening water crisis as the demand exceeds the available supply, reported the Tunis Afrique Presse (TAP) on Tuesday.
“The reserves of Tunisian dams have reached their lowest levels in different regions in the country,” Chawki Ben Mansour, central director of the National Company of Water Exploitation and Distribution (SONEDE), was quoted by the TAP as saying.
The water reserves at Tunisian dams, estimated at around 720 million cubic meters, recorded a regression of around 200 million cubic meters compared to the same period last year, Mansour said, calling on citizens to support water-saving policies.
Mansour added that SONEDE launched an awareness campaign a week ago to inform citizens of the severe drinking water situation caused by the drought and lack of rainfall.
In response to the worsening water crisis, Tunisia raised drinking water prices by up to 16 percent in March.