SWIM-SM has kicked-off on 16 January  2014 the pilot implementation in Tunisia of a regional system developed to enable the effective Monitoring & Evaluation of participatory irrigation management (PIM) and Irrigation Management Transfer (IMT) process.

This is an approach involving the people who directly use the irrigation water, i.e. the farmersand implying the transfer of irrigation management responsibilities from the government to Water Users Associations (WUAs), which in the long term can result in a more effective management of the resources, as many examples worldwide and in the Mediterranean Region show.

The kick-off involved a meeting with the National Agencies responsible for implementing the PIM/IMT program in the country, the Direction Générale du Génie Rural et de l’Exploitation des Eaux (DGGREE) and the Bureau de la Planification et des Équilibres Hydrauliques at the Ministry of Agriculture and Hydraulic Resources, both represented by the respective General Directors and other officials.

To download the materials of the meeting (available only in French) click here

For the press note click here

The main objective of this activity is to value the cost of degradation of water resources at the Oum Er-Rbia watershed level to help decision makers at the national and local levels to identify and prioritize concrete actions to improve the management of the basin through the funding of potential projects that will reap environmental benefits.

Based on the recommendations of the assessment six intervention areas are proposed for the integrated and sustainable management of water resources of the basin:

1-       Efficient investments for domestic pollution control in rural and peri-urban areas which have been neglected in the past.

2-       Considering opportunities to increase agricultural productivity by reducing the impact of salinity.

3-       Gradually shifting the policy of intensifying the exploitation of natural resources,

4-       Planning upstream interventions that reduce siltation of dams

5-       Setting up an information network for decentralized monitoring, monitoring of the environment and natural resources of the basin.

6-       Considering a horizontal action for an overall and integrated management of water in the watershed.

To download the Assessment (available only in French) click here

To download the related Policy note (in English) click here

To download the press note click here

SWIM-SM is collecting success stories from the SWIM Partner Countries (PCs) – Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Syria^[1]andTunisia - that showcase "solutions" on:

• non-conventional water,
• water financing,
• water governance and
• no-regret actions for adaptation to climate change.

The deadline to send the preliminary submission form is the 30 April 2014.

The final list of selected “solutions” will be showcased by SWIM-SM through various visbility and dissemination tools.

Download the documents below for additional information and for any clarification please contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

1. Background
2. Selection Criteria for Solutions
3. The selection process
4. Preliminary submission form to be filled in

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[1] Cooperation with Syria is temporarily suspended until further notice from the EU

The study implemented by the project SWIM-Sustain Water MED describes the results of an analysis of the demonstration area with focus on:

-          Socio-economic and environmental settings,

-          Water supply and sanitation aspects,

-          A Stakeholders’ assessment,

-          Institutional and legal frameworks,

-          Environmental and health risks

It also presents the wastewater treatment options proposed for the site and compares them based on specific criteria.  

To download the full report from the project’s website click here