Libya, Algeria and Tunisia have signed a new agreement to jointly manage the North-Western Sahara Aquifer System, one of the world’s largest underground freshwater reserves, in a move aimed at curbing overuse of a resource that is critical to all three North African states. The deal, known as the Tripoli Declaration, was signed in Tripoli on April 29 and commits the three countries to closer coordination, information-sharing and joint monitoring of the non-renewable aquifer.
Libya’s water resources minister, Hosni Aouidat, said the region’s mounting water pressures made stronger cooperation urgent, citing climate change and rising demand. The declaration calls for “strengthening coordination and exchanges to ensure sustainable use” of the shared groundwater system, which stretches beneath all three countries.
The aquifer holds an estimated more than 40 trillion cubic metres of fossil water, with just under two-thirds beneath Algeria, a little under a third below Libya and about 8% under Tunisia. Officials say increasing use of deep boreholes, some reaching around 1,000 metres, has accelerated extraction and heightened the risk of depletion, pollution and mismanagement. Under the new mechanism, the three countries plan to use mathematical models to guide water allocation, while jointly tracking water levels and environmental risks. Libyan officials say the system is designed to promote “rational and equitable” use of the aquifer and prevent overexploitation.
The agreement is especially important for Libya, one of the driest countries in the world, which relies heavily on the Great Man-Made River network to transport fossil water from the south through vast pipelines.
