The releases of wastewater in the Oued Righ valley: the palm groves in decline

Abstract

The Oued Righ valley located in the south-east of Algeria consists of 50 palm groves containing 2 million palm trees. The drainage flows in a traditional canal 136 km to discharge into downstream in depressions. However, the rate of urban waste in the canal increased for over the past 20 years. The physico-chemical analyses of the canal waters showed that the quality of the water is poor. With the absence of a sewage network and poor quality of water in the canal network, the waters are polluted groundwater. This new situation has caused the death of more than 50% of the palm trees.

Keywords:

• Channel
• Oued Righ
• Palm grove
• Wastewater