Category Archives: Water Management

The Promise of Seawater Desalination in Algeria: Perspectives

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Algeria is one of the countries most exposed to water stress in the world. Classified as arid and semi-arid, it relies heavily on limited freshwater resources, with overexploited aquifers and dams often at critical levels during recurrent droughts. In response to this reality, the Algerian government has made seawater desalination a major strategic solution to secure potable water supply while alleviating pressure on natural freshwater resources. This approach goes beyond merely meeting human needs: it also potentially contributes to the preservation of terrestrial, marine, and freshwater ecosystems, in line with the objectives of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework adopted in … Continue reading →

Water Security and Transboundary Conflicts: Geopolitical Challenges and Sustainable Water Governance

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Water security has become a central determinant of geopolitical stability and sustainable development, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions. Increasing water demand, combined with climate change and fragmented governance of shared water resources, is intensifying tensions between states. This article analyzes transboundary water conflicts through several emblematic cases and highlights the critical role of cooperative governance, with a particular focus on the North Western Sahara Aquifer System (NWSAS). This study emphasizes that scientific transparency, institutional coordination, and regional cooperation are key to preventing water-related conflicts and ensuring long-term water security. Water as a Strategic Security Issue Water is no longer … Continue reading →

مستجمعات المياه الصحية أولوية حرجة لدفع التنمية المستدامة

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تُعرّف مستجمعات المياه أو مساقط المياه (Watershed) بأنها مساحة من الأرض تُصرّف المياه الناشئة عن هطول الأمطار وانصهار الثلوج وتوجه تدفقها لتصب باتجاه الجداول والأنهار، وفي النهاية إلى نقاط التدفق (Outflow points) التي تصب في مستودعات المياه الأكبر حجما مثل الخلجان والمحيطات. ولكل جسم مائي مستجمع مياه أو أكثر. وتسمى أيضًا أحواض الأنهار أو أحواض التصريف (Drainage Basin). كما تُسمّى مصائد المياه (Catchment)، لأن الأرض الصاعدة والمرتفعة (Upstream) تصطاد المياه ومن ثم تجري إلى أسفل التل (Downstream) في اتجاه مجرى النهر أو الجدول القريب. تتكون المستجمعات المائية من وديان منحدرة تحيط بها قمم وتلال مرتفعة. ويتم تحديد حدود مستجمعات المياه … Continue reading →

Water and Gender: A Strategic Lever for Sustainable Water Security

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World Water Day, celebrated every year on 22 March under the auspices of the United Nations, provides a unique opportunity to draw international attention to the vital importance of freshwater and to the persistent challenges related to its access, management, and sustainability. Since its inception, this observance has highlighted an annual theme addressing emerging priorities and structural challenges in the global water sector. In 2026, the chosen theme, “Water and Gender,” explicitly recognizes the close link between water management, sanitation, and gender inequalities, underscoring that the global water crisis is also a social, economic, and human crisis [1]. Although water … Continue reading →

15 Purest Water Sources in the World

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99% of the world’s water sources are unfit for human consumption, leaving a paltry 1% to sustain over 7 billion people across the planet. The following infographic by Waterlogic, manufacturers of workplace water dispensers takes a deep dive into the 15 purest water sources left on earth, uncovering everything from the freshwater havens of bracing Alaska through to the natural filtration effects of the gold mines in South Africa. There are even a couple of surprises: who knew the River Thames is now regarded as the cleanest river in the world to flow through a major city? Read on to … Continue reading →

Desalination as an Integrated Water–Energy–Material System in Water-Stressed Regions

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Water scarcity has become a structural constraint for sustainable development in arid and semi-arid regions. In North Africa, declining renewable water availability, recurrent droughts, population growth and agricultural demand have pushed conventional water resources beyond their renewal capacity. As a result, seawater desalination has evolved from an emergency response to a strategic infrastructure for national water security. However, the rapid expansion of desalination systems has revealed systemic challenges extending beyond water production. Energy consumption, membrane fouling, chemical use, brine discharge and environmental impacts increasingly determine the sustainability and social acceptability of desalination. At the same time, desalination brine—traditionally considered a … Continue reading →

Water Crisis in Morocco – Response and Challenges

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Water, the most basic and essential resource on Earth, has become a privilege in many parts of the world. It is, without a doubt, one of, if not the most vital, resources for life. However, communities across the globe are increasingly facing drought and scarcity, and we have noticed a significant disparity in access to clean, drinkable water. As of 2022, nearly 500 million people across 19 African nations lack access to clean drinking water. The progress in resolving this issue has been slow due to the overexploitation of these resources, the impacts of climate change, and the historical sequels … Continue reading →

Can Treated Wastewater Help Algeria Overcome Water Scarcity?

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Water scarcity is among the most critical environmental and socio-economic challenges confronting Algeria. Located largely within arid and semi-arid climatic zones, the country experiences highly variable rainfall, frequent droughts, and limited renewable freshwater resources. Per capita renewable water availability in Algeria is estimated at around 404 m³/year, placing the country well below the internationally recognized water scarcity threshold of 1,000 m³/year [1]. Climate change projections indicate further reductions in precipitation, rising temperatures, and increased evapotranspiration, all of which are expected to intensify water stress in the coming decades [2]. In this context, the search for alternative and non-conventional water resources … Continue reading →

Long-Term Solutions to Address Water Scarcity in Jordan

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Jordan, characterized by its arid desert climate, is among the most water-scarce countries in the world. The nation’s renewable water resources amount to less than 100 m³ per capita annually—far below the water scarcity threshold. Overexploitation of groundwater, climate change, and rapid population growth have triggered an acute water crisis, leading to soil degradation, desertification, rising water costs, economic constraints, biodiversity loss, and public health challenges. Jordan primarily relies on surface water from rivers, groundwater, rainwater harvesting, and treated wastewater for reuse, while planning seawater desalination at Aqaba. To address the escalating water shortage, a long-term strategy integrating cloud seeding, desalination, … Continue reading →

How Algal Blooms Affect The Environment

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Algal blooms are thick layers of small green plants that appear on the surface of lakes and other water bodies due to excess nutrients, especially phosphorus and nitrogen. This covering on the surface of lakes and other water bodies is known as eutrophication. The excess level of nutrients that algae depend on results from human activities that cause pollution, such as fertilizer, wastewater, manure, and sewage runoff. Eutrophication can also be a natural occurrence from moderate accumulation of organic matter, silt, nutrients, and sediments gradually from the watershed. Algae come in different colors ranging from green, red, yellow, and brown. … Continue reading →

Membrane Innovation: Transforming Water Security in Arid Regions

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Membrane innovation has emerged today as one of the most decisive technological levers for arid countries facing water scarcity, degradation of natural resources, and the rapidly increasing water demand for drinking, agricultural, and industrial water. At the heart of this silent revolution, membranes, whether reverse osmosis, nanofiltration, ultrafiltration, forward osmosis, or emerging processes such as biomembranes and graphene-based membranes, have transformed the way dry nations produce, recycle, and secure their water supply. Far from being a simple technical tool, they have become a major geopolitical, economic, and environmental instrument. In the context of accelerated climate change, where extreme droughts are … Continue reading →

Water-Energy-Food Nexus in Arab Countries

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Addressing water scarcity, both natural and human-induced, in the Arab region is considered one of the major and most critical challenges facing the Arab countries. This challenge is expected to grow with time due to many pressing driving forces, including population growth, food demand, unsettled and politicized shared water resources, climate change, and many others, forcing more countries into more expensive water sources, such as desalination, to augment their limited freshwater supplies. The heavy financial, economic, environmental, as well as social costs and burden to be borne cannot be overemphasized. Furthermore, the water scarcity challenge in the Arab world is being … Continue reading →