Tunis — In a difficult and uncertain economic environment, affected by climate change, greenhouse gas emissions, pollution and rising of sea levels, but also desert encroachment, good management of water resources remains a priority for the Tunisian government.

In this context, a working session chaired by the Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources, Mr. Abdessalem Mansour, was held on Monday in Tunis on the monitoring of the management of water resources particularly focusing on the role of dams.

During the meeting it was revealed that until February 27, 2010, dam storage capacity reached 1576 million cubic meters against 1,530 million m3 in 2009.

During the meeting, participants also discussed the monitoring of execution phases of major water projects as part of the 2009-2014 Presidential Program, which focused on equipments destined for the mobilization of water resources, expansion of irrigated areas by traditional water resources or treated water.

Participants also discussed the project connecting the dams to water transport system, and reviewed preparations for the celebration of National water economy Day which is due to be held on March 22, 2010.

The program of the national event as well as awareness operations on the preservation of natural resources and water efficiency, were also on the agenda of the event.