Urban Water Problems Exemplified By Three Projects In Tunisia

ABSRTACT

At the present time, Tunisia is experiencing perhaps the fastest industrial and urban development of all North African countries. A rapidly increasing population and expanding urban agglomeration, entail many hydrological problems which are typical of any fast developing country. The water cycle of an urbanized area is usually much accelerated compared with a rural area; the material balance of such an area contains many new elements which disturb natural ecosystems. Urban and industrial activities within developing areas create water pollution, which causes degradation of the water quality in rivers and coastal zones. Some of these problems were addressed in three hydrological projects performed in Tunisia in cooperation between the Tunisian Ministry of Higher Education and Research and the Department of Water Resources Engineering, University of Lund, Sweden. The paper gives a brief description of the three projects, and discusses some typical shortcomings during their implementation. Difficulties in transferring experience from industrialized to developing countries are exemplified.