The first transboundary workshop on the assessment of the water-food-energy-ecosystems nexus in the North-West Sahara Aquifer System (NWSAS) was held from 18 to 19 July 2017 in Algiers, Algeria, under the auspices of the Ministry of Water Resources in Algeria, organized by Global Water Partnership Mediterranean (GWP-Med), UNECE, and the Sahara and Sahel Observatory, with the effective participation of the Coordination Mechanism of NWSAS.

The NWSAS is the principal groundwater resource in its region, which is to a large degree non-renewable. Water from the aquifer is in high demand for potable and irrigation use in particular. In addition to gradual groundwater table decrease with depletion, there are risks linked to groundwater quantity and quality from human activities. The challenges of ensuring the sustainable use of the region’s water resources, common to the aquifer sharing countries of Algeria, Libya and Tunisia, were the focus of the workshop.

The objective of the workshop was to present and discuss three interrelated themes:

• understanding of the approach "Water-Food-Energy-Ecosystems Nexus" and its application at the level of the transboundary NWSAS;
• characterization of the stakeholders involved in the management of the NWSAS;
• outline directions for guiding sustainable socio-economic development in the NWSAS basin and which can serve as a basis for a shared vision for the management of its water resources.

The workshop provided for assessing the current and future management of the aquifer at national and transboundary levels, including sectoral policies in the three countries. Participants identified interlinkages among strategies and plans, laying the basis for strengthened cooperation by outlining a range of beneficial management, policy and infrastructure related actions that could be taken. 

The workshop participants called for, among others, up-to-date monitoring of available water resources, applying demand management measures and reorienting economic development towards higher value production that does not require abundant water supply. The potential of renewable energy to power the pumping and treatment of water was also recognized, together with questions related to environmental considerations and the water needs of energy generation. Participants further anticipated the need for significant investment in the modernization and extension of infrastructure in order to respond to the challenges identified.

The workshop is part of a wider process for enhancing transboundary cooperation for the management of the NWSAS and strengthening related capacities which is supported by the Regional Project "Making Water Cooperation happen in the Mediterranean", funded by the Swedish International Cooperation Agency (SIDA).

More than 50 participants attended from the three countries representing the energy and agriculture sectors, water authorities and utilities, as well as environmental protection organizations.

The workshop is part of a wider process for enhancing transboundary cooperation for the management of the NWSAS and strengthening related capacities. The Regional Project "Action for Cooperation in the Water Sector in the Mediterranean", funded by the Swedish International Cooperation Agency (SIDA).

A media communication by UNECE regarding the workshop can be found in English here and in French here.

Please find here a press release in English.