Tunisia: Slight improvement in dam reserves

Water reserves in Tunisian dams have registered, until Tuesday, January 14, 2025, a slight improvement to reach 25.7%, or around 603.069 million cubic meters, against 23.7% recorded on January 1, 2025, according to data issued by the National Water Office (ONEE) and the National Observatory of Agriculture.

The water reserves available, to date, in Tunisian dams, remain down by 199.749 million m3, compared to the average of the same day during the last three years, which is equivalent to 802.181 m3, according to the observatory.

The same data revealed that the total available reserves range from region to region, with the northern dams documenting a percentage of 29.9 percent (with a stock equivalent to 547.708 million m3), while the central dams recorded 10.5 percent of the total available stock in the dams (47.474 million m3) and Cap Bon with 12.8 percent (7.887 million m3).

The recent rainfalls represent a recovery for the water reserves of the dams and for the entire agricultural sector, according to what the National Observatory of Agriculture indicated, as Tunisian dams have recorded an improvement in water revenues.

Total revenues from dams as of the same date stood at 39.830 million m3, of which the northern dams accounted for the lion’s share, at 39.603 million m3, while revenues remained low in the centre, at 0.158 million m3, and in Cap Bon at 0.070 million m3. The El Barrak dam tops the list of dams with the largest storage capacity, estimated at 134.453 million m3 (with a filling rate of approximately 47%), followed by the Sidi Salem dam with 100.490 million m3 (with a filling rate of roughly 17%), then the Sejnane dam with 54.642 million m3 (a filling rate of approximately 17 percent), then Bouhertma with 37.591 million m3 (a filling rate of approximately 26 percent), then Sidi Saad with 21.393 million m3 (a filling rate of 16 percent), then Mallague with 11.116 million m3 (a filling rate of approximately 23 percent).

It should be remarked that the total revenues for the current season amount to 320.341 million m3, compared to an average for the period of 668.373 million m3, a negative difference of 348.032 million m3.

The same data indicate that the total uses and withdrawals, to date, amount to 3.912 million m3, most of which comes from the northern dams, or 8.843 million m3.