ALGERIA: the « water police » activated to mitigate the effects of water stress

After launching programmes to exploit non-conventional water from desalination and wastewater treatment, the Algerian government is activating the “water police” to mitigate the effects of water stress in the country, notably the overexploitation of ground and surface water, and wastage. This decision was recently announced by the President of the Algerian Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune.

The “water police”, instituted within the framework of law n֯ 05-12 August 2005 relating to water in Algeria, will therefore control the fields of use of water resources in all areas of activity, particularly agriculture, which consumes nearly 70% of available resources. Thus, in accordance with Article 161 of this law, the agents of the ‘water police’ will have access to the works and installations exploited for the use of the public hydraulic domain. The same article specifies that these agents may also require the owner or operator of these works and installations to put them into operation in order to carry out useful verifications and demand the communication of all documents necessary for the accomplishment of their mission