The filling rate of dams in Tunisia reached an alarming level of 19.6% on December 3, 2024, marking a significant drop compared with the same period the previous year, according to data published recently by the National Observatory for Agriculture (ONAGRI).
Cumulative water reserves currently stand at 460.343 million m³, compared with 516.163 million m³ a year ago, a fall of 10.8%. Compared with the average for the last three years, this fall is even more worrying, reaching 25.8%.
ONAGRI highlights significant regional disparities. Dams in the north of the country have a filling rate of 22.1%, representing 88% of the total volume of national reserves.
Dams in the centre and Cap Bon, on the other hand, had much lower rates, at 10.7% and 10.2% respectively. The Cap Bon dams are almost completely dry, with the exception of the Masri dam.
On December 3, only 0.490 million m³ of water flowed into the dams, compared with 1.247 million m³ used on the same day.
Since the start of the season, cumulative inflows have reached 102.3 million m³, significantly below the seasonal average of 320.1 million m³, a shortfall of 68%. This situation highlights the urgent need for measures to manage this growing water crisis.
TunisianMonitorOnline (NejiMed)
