The use of economic instruments in water management in Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia
Mediterranean‐African countries (MACs) face a major water crisis. The annual renewable water resources are close to the 500 m3/capita threshold of absolute water scarcity, and water withdrawals exceed total renewable water resources by 30%. Such a low water availability curbs economic development in agriculture, which accounts for 86% of freshwater consumption.
The analysis of the current situation of wastewater treatment, irrigation, and water management in MACs and of the research projects targeted to these countries indicates the need for
- an enhanced capacity to analyze water stress,
- the development of water management strategies capable of including wastewater reuse,
- development of locally adapted water treatment and irrigation technologies.
This analysis shaped the MADFORWATER project, whose goal is to develop a set of integrated technological and management solutions to enhance wastewater treatment, wastewater reuse for irrigation, and water efficiency in agriculture in Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia.
MADFORWATER develops and adapts technologies for the production of irrigation‐quality water from drainage canals and municipal, agro‐industrial, and industrial wastewaters and technologies for water efficiency and reuse in agriculture, initially validated at laboratory scale, to 3 hydrological basins in the selected MACs.
Read/download the open access article via the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry.
[Photo by Water Alternatives | Flickr]
