Local citizens discuss options to manage future water resources in the Rmel river basin
Climate change and other global developments are expected to affect the Rmel river basin. Local citizens are discussing with scientists how to manage water resources in order to adapt to changing future conditions.
Through a series of workshops, scientists from the National Research Institute for Rural Engineering Water and Forestry (INRGREF) are discussing water management strategies to deal with global change for the Rmel river basin with local stakeholders. In a first workshop, the participants identified the main challenges for the management of water resources and suggested options to deal with these challenges. In a second workshop, these options were refined and evaluated. On 7 October, an open consultation event was held in Tunis (Tunisia). This event was attended by about 50 participants including engineers, educators, administrators, sociologists, policy makers and planners who covered various sectors such as agriculture, education, associations, technical directions, irrigation, and development.
The event started with a welcoming word of the INRGREF director general, the BeWater project coordinator and the commissioner of the regional office for agricultural development of the Zaghouan region.
During the event, participants of the open consultation event were asked to review the 19 options defined in previous workshops and to comment these options based on their knowledge, experience and expertise. The participants worked together in groups and discussed their experience with each option, as well as any barriers (political, social, and economical) that may be of relevance to implement the options and their costs.
The event was closed by the cabinet chief of the Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Abdallah Rabhi who highly appreciated the first outcomes of the project and considered the project “a stepping stone to establish a significant collaboration between society and science”.
The water management options that were discussed will form the basis for an adaptation plan for the Rmel river basin. This plan will be elaborated during the next phase in the BeWater project.
More information:
Sihem Jebari: sihem.jebari @ iresa.agrinet.tn / sihem.jebari @ gmail.com
Photo credits: INRGREF
