Tunisia introduces water quota system due to severe drought

A view shows a bridge over Sidi El Barrak dam with depleted levels of water, in Nafza, west of the capital Tunis, Tunisia, January 7, 2023. REUTERS/Jihed Abidellaoui

TUNIS (Reuters) -Tunisia on Friday introduced a quota system for potable water and banned its use in agriculture until Sept. 30 in response to a severe drought that has hit the country, the agriculture ministry said.

Tunisia, which is suffering a fourth straight year of serious drought, recorded a drop in its dam capacity to around 1 billion cubic meters, or 30% of the maximum, due to a scarcity of rain from September 2022 to mid-March 2023, senior agriculture ministry official Hamadi Habib said.