Abstract
The debate about the water resources shortages and finding appropriate solutions to close the water gap in many regions is still not finished. The Mediterranean region is among the most arid regions in the world and hosts more than the half of the world’s water-poor population. The situation is more severe in the southern shore of the Mediterranean, in particular, the Maghreb countries. In this region, water resources are very limited and polluted and most countries rely on groundwater yet overexploited. On the other hand, several factors, including rapid economic growth, expanding populations and changing climate, are driving up demand for water. This pushes forward the Maghreb countries to more and more rely on non-conventional and costly water resources such as wastewater treatment and desalination. Obviously, this bears a heavy burden on the economic growth within these countries. In this paper, rationalizing the virtual water trade and enhancing desalination using renewable energy are presented as two promising options to bridging the Maghreb’s water gap.
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Source: own construction based on data from FAO (2015)
Source: own construction based on data from FAO (2015)
Source: Mekonnen and Hoekstra (2011)
Source: Dermody et al. (2014)
Source: IRENA (2015)
Source: www.nurenergie.com
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Notes
Hydrologists typically assess scarcity by looking at the population-water equation. An area is experiencing water stress when annual water supplies drop below 1700 m3 per person. When annual water supplies drop below 1000 m3 per person, the population faces water scarcity, and below 500 m3 ‘absolute scarcity.’ (http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/scarcity.html).
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Sebri, M. Bridging the Maghreb’s water gap: from rationalizing the virtual water trade to enhancing the renewable energy desalination. Environ Dev Sustain 19, 1673–1684 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-016-9820-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-016-9820-9