The Tunisian, Algerian and Libyan leaders agreed on Wednesday on "equitable exploitation" of groundwater reserves in the northern Sahara, straddling the three countries. With more than 40,000 billion cubic meters of water, it is one of the largest groundwater bodies in the world.

Published on: 04/29/2026 - 11:05 p.m.

Libya, Algeria and Tunisia committed, Wednesday April 29, to "rational and equitable exploitation" of groundwater located in the northern part of the Sahara, straddling the three countries, during a first consultation meeting in Tripoli.

In what was described as the "Tripoli Declaration", they underlined the importance of "strengthening coordination and exchanges to guarantee sustainable exploitation" of these non-renewable fresh water reserves.

The Northern Sahara aquifer system is considered one of the largest groundwater bodies in the world. It has been exploited for centuries, via surface springs and wells and now also via drilling up to 1,000 meters deep.

In April 2024, Tunisian President Kaïs Saïed, his Algerian counterpart Abdelmadjid Tebboune and Mohamed el-Menfi, the head of the Libyan Presidential Council, agreed to create a “consultation mechanism” in order to manage the sharing of this resource.

The reserves, estimated at more than 40,000 billion cubic meters of fossil water, a large part of which is not necessarily exploitable, are located 62% on Algerian territory, 30% in Libya and 8% in Tunisia.

Quota system

The “consultation mechanism” launched on Wednesday should also serve to protect them against “overexploitation and pollution”.

Algeria took the lead in the rotating presidency of this consultative body for three years.

On the basis of mathematical models, “each country will be allocated a share. Water levels will be monitored as well as other risks such as pollution,” Hussein al-Talou, head of research at the Libyan Ministry of Water Resources, explained to AFP. "La gestion et le suivi seront assurés conjointement par les trois pays", selon lui.

Libyan Minister Hosni Awedane stressed the need for “optimal exploitation” of reserves in the face of “growing demand for water and climate change”.

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For his Tunisian counterpart Ezzedine Ben Cheikh, the mechanism is welcome in a context of "decrease in food security in the Middle East and North Africa, linked to water scarcity, the deterioration of natural resources and climatic challenges".

Libya, more than 90% of which is desert, is one of the six driest countries in the world, according to the UN.

It depends for 60% of its needs on the Great Artificial River, a pharaonic project started under Muammar Gaddafi in the 1980s, which transports fossil water from the south of the country to the populated regions of the north.

With AFP

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