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Assessing the Climate Change Impact on Water Resources and Adaptation Strategies in Algerian Cheliff Basin

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Water Resources in Algeria - Part I

Part of the book series: The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry ((HEC,volume 97))

Abstract

The effect of climate change on the water resources of the Cheliff basin in Algeria was evaluated with a particular focus on the significant factors affecting the water reserves. The Cheliff basin, which is one of the largest basins in the north of Algeria, is affected by water scarcity due to the extension of industrial and agricultural activities with the population growth, on the one hand, and to a decline in water resources caused by extreme droughts, on the other hand. The results of the current climate change assessment revealed a downward trend in the precipitation ranging from 14 to 54% and a reduction in streamflows that exceeds 40% with a break observed at the beginning of the 1980s. According to different emission scenarios, several general circulation models (GCMs) predict an increase in temperature of +0.9°C to +5°C on average at the end of the twenty-first century, with a decrease in average rainfall of 10–30%. A conceptual model predicted a flow deficit ranging from 10 to 48% at different periods and in different scenarios.

This study found that the problem of water scarcity was exacerbated by poor management of available water resources and by the significant increase in the population, which exceeded five million in 2010. Intensive use of water for irrigation and economic development has put additional pressure on the limited water resources. All these facts call for a proper “fit for purpose” integrated water management policy for the whole country.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Vegetable Chemistry-Water-Energy Research Laboratory, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University Hassiba Ben Bouali of Chlef, Ouled Fares, Algeria

    Yamina Elmeddahi

  2. Centre of Ecology and Hydrology, CEH, Wallingford, UK

    Ragab Ragab

Authors
  1. Yamina Elmeddahi
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  2. Ragab Ragab
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yamina Elmeddahi .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Water and Water Structures Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt

    Abdelazim M. Negm

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Khemis Miliana, Algiers, Algeria

    Abdelkader Bouderbala

  3. Department of Natural and Life Sciences, Faculty of Exact Sciences and Natural and Life Sciences, University of Tebessa, Tebessa, Algeria

    Haroun Chenchouni

  4. Catalan Institute for Water Research, ICRA, Girona, Spain

    Damià Barceló

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Elmeddahi, Y., Ragab, R. (2019). Assessing the Climate Change Impact on Water Resources and Adaptation Strategies in Algerian Cheliff Basin. In: Negm, A.M., Bouderbala, A., Chenchouni, H., Barceló, D. (eds) Water Resources in Algeria - Part I. The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry, vol 97. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/698_2019_398

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