The state of Arab Cities 2012/2013

108 3.5 Urban Environmental ChallengesThe Challenge of Water ScarcityAll Maghreb countries are water stressed, with Algeria,Libya and Tunisia each having total resources of lessthan 500 m 3 /capita, and Morocco less than 1,000m 3 /capita. Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia already exploit 47to 65 per cent of renewable water resources but Libya iswithdrawing eight times more water than is renewed. 109While both desalination of seawater and fossil aquifer watersources under the Sahara can be tapped, their developmentcan be prohibitively expensive in countries where water tariffsare already among the highest in the Arab world. Today, inline with policies to ensure some measure of food security,60 to 95 per cent of water in the Maghreb is used foragriculture. 110 With the region’s population growing at 1.0 to1.8 per cent annually and expanding consumption in urbanareas, all Maghreb countries face difficult tradeoffs betweenwater security and food security.Recognizing the importance of preserving agriculturalproductivity both for food security and to slow rural-urbanmigration, governments have developed diverse plans topromote irrigation efficiency, in addition to promoting urbanwater reuse and greater use efficiency.In Morocco, the 2008 Green Plan proposes to makeagriculture the country’s main economic engine in the nextten to 15 years by increasing private investment in high-valueagriculture for 400,000 farms, and providing public support to600,000 to 800,000 small-holder farms to increase productivityand reduce water demands. 111 In Algeria, the national Plan forHydrologic Management focuses on desalination, improvingefficiency of use, reducing water losses and reusing water forirrigation during the 2009-2014 period.In the long term, Algeria aims to develop new reservoirs andtransfer water from the High Plateaus. Tunisia has developeda strategy of increasing wastewater reuse to 50 per cent forirrigation, increasing agricultural efficiency, and reducingwater allocations for agriculture by 1.3 per cent a year. 112Libya has resolved its extreme water scarcity with an aqueductto the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer, which it shares with Chadand Egypt. This supplies water to Tripoli, Benghazi, Sirt andother localities.Urban Access to Domestic WaterUrban access to improved water and sanitation is relativelyhigh in Maghreb countries and nearly universal in Moroccoand Tunisia. Algeria, however, may miss its MillenniumDevelopment Goal target for water and sanitation as theresult of a decline in the proportion of people with accessto water and because the country is undergoing the region’shighest absolute and relative increase in urban population.Having reached relatively high levels of urban water serviceprovision, Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia are now turning todiverse strategies to ensure future water supply and reduceFIGURE 28: AVAILABLE AND WITHDRAWN WATER RESOURCESPER CAPITA40003500Per capita per year (m3/yr)300025002000150010005000AlgeriaLibyaMauritaniaMoroccoTunisiaRenewable Water Resources (2008)Total Water Withdrawn (2002 or 2007)Source: FAO Aquastat 2008A man sells water from the back of a truck in Tripoli, Libya. Water has been cut off throughoutthe city.©J. Weeks/Voice of America