The quantities of water stored in the country's large dams does not exceed 650 million cubic meters (m3), compared with an average of 1,025 m3 per year, said Secretary of State for Water Resources and Fisheries Abdallah Rabhi.

Speaking at a meeting of the Committee on Agriculture, Food Security, Trade and Services, stemming from the House of the People’s Representatives (HPR), he said that the water levels of the Nebhana and Sidi Salem dams remain below their storage capacity.

The quantities of water stored in the Sidi Salem dam reached 199 million m3 (capacity 392 million m3), while the water quantities of the Nebhana Dam reached 13.9 million m3 (a capacity of 58 million Of M3).

Despite a slight improvement (increase in water quantities of the Sidi Salem dam by 27% compared with the rainy season of 2016), the stored water levels remained below the annual averages.

The Nebhana and Sidi Salem dams provide irrigation of an estimated 33,000 hectares of crops, including an area of 7,000 hectares devoted to market gardening products.

Rabhi also pointed out that during the year 2016, 40% of the waters of the dams were devoted to irrigation, specifying that irrigation only concerned fruit trees.

The waters of the north will be directed from the Sidi El Barak dam in Nefza to the Sidi Salem dam as part of the connection system to supply citizens with drinking water, he said.

He added that works continue on the construction of the Sidi Malleg El Alaoui dam, with an estimated storage capacity of 195 million cubic meters. The Department of Agriculture is also preparing to build the El Kalaa dam with an estimated storage capacity of 28 million m3

source: TAP