Ad-hoc Committee for Development Model Underlines Need to Preserve Water Resources

The ad-hoc committee for the development model has underlined the need to preserve water resources through better management.

In its general report, the Committee stated that the issue of water is among the most urgent to be addressed through an approach integrating its scarcity and giving priority to its preservation in the long term for the current and future generations.

In this regard, the Committee has made four recommendations, including the reform of the organization of the sector and the strengthening of transparency on the costs of the resource at every stage of its development, the report noted.

It also involves the introduction of a pricing system that reflects the real value of the resources, the rationalization of its use and the management of its scarcity, it added, noting that a National Agency for Water Management (ANGE) will be established.

This agency will replace the Interministerial Water Commission with a view to converging public and sectoral policies within a regional approach.

The report noted that future water needs cannot be met without the mobilization of non-conventional resources and the preservation of groundwater resources.

The Committee stressed the need to rationalize the use of groundwater, through exploitation methods that take into account the regeneration capacity of the phreatic zones.

According to the same source, it will be appropriate to make extensive use of seawater desalination to provide a secure supplement to the water supply of coastal cities, to free up further water resources for irrigated areas and to significantly reduce water losses.

Controlling the cost of energy and using appropriate pricing that maximizes the value of the resource can lead to an attractive niche for private investment and public-private partnerships, the Committee said.

The treatment and reuse of wastewater and rainwater must take place to meet the needs of irrigated areas and relieve pressure on dams, which requires the establishment of a regulatory framework, in compliance with the World Health Organization’s standards, it added.