Parched Tunisia imposes water rationing

TUNIS: Tunisia announced tight restrictions on water usage, including rationing tap water, on Friday, as the drought-hit country braces for another baking summer.

The North African country´s dams are at critical lows following years of drought, exacerbated by pipeline leaks in a decrepit distribution network. The agriculture ministry announced a ban on the use of potable water for irrigating farmland or green spaces, or for cleaning public areas or cars.

It said it would also implement quotas for mains supply to households until September. The head of public water company Sonede, Mosbah Helali, said fines and even prison sentences were being considered for those breaking the rules, telling radio station Mosaique FM that mains supply would be cut between 9:00 pm and 3:00 am.

Residents of several areas of the capital have already complained of unannounced cuts to their mains supply at night since the start of the fasting month of Ramadan, when many stay up late.

“Years of drought and low water flow into reservoirs has impacted the country´s water stocks, which have reached an unprecedented situation,” the ministry said. None of the country´s major reservoirs is more than a third full, while some are at at less than 15 percent, threatening Tunisia´s agricultural sector, which usually accounts for 10 percent of Gross Domestic Product.