44
O. Mahjoub et al.
plants. In 2010, 21.8% of the population had access to improved sanitation (African
Development Bank 2015). Recently, Mauritania was encouraged to implement an
IWRM, including projects to improve access to water and sanitation.
5 Water Resource Quality
In North African countries, irrigated agriculture was developed to counterbalance
the complete reliance of food and non-food crop production on rainfall, which
has become increasingly variable across time (distribution across seasons), space
(geographic distribution), and amount (quantity and intensity). Water quality is also
a crucial factor in irrigated agricultural production and food security. A decline in
water quality may even threaten the political stability of the region, especially where
numerous countries share the resource, which is the case in the southern part of North
Africa.
Within a country, there are conflicting interests between economic development
and climate change agendas. Hence, the effects of climate change are aggravating
existing quantitative and qualitative pressures on water resources. Consequently, the
availability of surface and groundwater are expected to decline with a direct effect
on water allocation and the environment. A drop in available water quantity can be
driven by both the degradation of the water quality, making insufficient the available
amounts of water resources suitable for a given use, and the environmental and health
risks to humans and the ecosystem.
Water resource quality in North Africa is largely affected by multiple sources
of pollution that can be either natural or anthropogenic; the latter is mainly caused
by domestic and economic activity like industry, urbanization, tourism, and agriculture. Since anthropogenic causes are predominant, they result in a wide range of
environmental and health impacts across the region. Point and non-point sources of
pollution releasing physical (organic matter, suspended matter), chemical (nutrients,
heavy metals, emerging pollutants), and biological (microorganisms) contaminants
are widespread.
One of the most important water quality parameters regularly monitored is salinity.
It reflects on the load of mineral species in the water. Any increase in salinity and/or
change in the composition of salts may have negative impacts on the sustainability
of a water resource and activities that depend on them, including domestic uses.
The economies of North African countries rely on the agricultural sector, which
consumes about 80% of the countries’ water resources. The expansion of irrigated
agricultural land and the use of traditional irrigation techniques, e.g., surface irrigation, is inevitably leading to the use of large amounts of irrigation water and the loss
of large amounts by both runoff and drainage.
Climate change can substantially affect the regenerative capacity of the environment, which reduces water quality. The lack of surface water due to severe drought
O. Mahjoub et al.
plants. In 2010, 21.8% of the population had access to improved sanitation (African
Development Bank 2015). Recently, Mauritania was encouraged to implement an
IWRM, including projects to improve access to water and sanitation.
5 Water Resource Quality
In North African countries, irrigated agriculture was developed to counterbalance
the complete reliance of food and non-food crop production on rainfall, which
has become increasingly variable across time (distribution across seasons), space
(geographic distribution), and amount (quantity and intensity). Water quality is also
a crucial factor in irrigated agricultural production and food security. A decline in
water quality may even threaten the political stability of the region, especially where
numerous countries share the resource, which is the case in the southern part of North
Africa.
Within a country, there are conflicting interests between economic development
and climate change agendas. Hence, the effects of climate change are aggravating
existing quantitative and qualitative pressures on water resources. Consequently, the
availability of surface and groundwater are expected to decline with a direct effect
on water allocation and the environment. A drop in available water quantity can be
driven by both the degradation of the water quality, making insufficient the available
amounts of water resources suitable for a given use, and the environmental and health
risks to humans and the ecosystem.
Water resource quality in North Africa is largely affected by multiple sources
of pollution that can be either natural or anthropogenic; the latter is mainly caused
by domestic and economic activity like industry, urbanization, tourism, and agriculture. Since anthropogenic causes are predominant, they result in a wide range of
environmental and health impacts across the region. Point and non-point sources of
pollution releasing physical (organic matter, suspended matter), chemical (nutrients,
heavy metals, emerging pollutants), and biological (microorganisms) contaminants
are widespread.
One of the most important water quality parameters regularly monitored is salinity.
It reflects on the load of mineral species in the water. Any increase in salinity and/or
change in the composition of salts may have negative impacts on the sustainability
of a water resource and activities that depend on them, including domestic uses.
The economies of North African countries rely on the agricultural sector, which
consumes about 80% of the countries’ water resources. The expansion of irrigated
agricultural land and the use of traditional irrigation techniques, e.g., surface irrigation, is inevitably leading to the use of large amounts of irrigation water and the loss
of large amounts by both runoff and drainage.
Climate change can substantially affect the regenerative capacity of the environment, which reduces water quality. The lack of surface water due to severe drought