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Algeria announces emergency plans to secure drinking water for communes facing shortages

6 November 2026 · Algeria Now

Algeria announces emergency plans to secure drinking water for communes facing shortages — Photo : aps.dz (adresse collée)

Water Resources Minister Lounès Bouzegza on Thursday announced emergency plans to secure drinking water for several communes suffering from water stress, telling senators that new projects, extra supply capacity and tighter management of resources will be rolled out.

Answering oral questions in the Council of the Nation, the upper house of parliament, the minister described a package built on three measures: linking struggling communes to the networks of their neighbours, drilling new boreholes and building additional pumping stations.

He gave two examples. In Béni Haoua, in the province of Chlef, an emergency project will bring water from the Kef Eddir dam to the district. It has been entrusted to a water-sector company and is 65 percent complete. In Aïn Beïda, in Oum El Bouaghi province, the plan combines connections to neighbouring networks, new boreholes, a pumping station and a reservoir. Some 80 km of pipes there have already been rehabilitated, and a new 61 km project will start once administrative procedures are completed. The town has also been allocated about 20,000 cubic metres a day, to avoid overlap with the management of neighbouring areas such as Souk Ahras and Sedrata.

Bouzegza acknowledged that ageing distribution networks are a major weakness, with losses of 30 to 50 percent of drinking water in the communes concerned. A programme to rehabilitate pipes and repair leaks is under way. He also announced a large clearing operation on the Chéliff river in Mostaganem, where accumulated stones and vegetation are blocking the flow, with the involvement of public and private companies.

The announcement follows a series of water measures in recent days. The minister inaugurated drinking-water projects in several provinces on Monday, and the state signed water sale and purchase contracts for five desalination plants on 29 October.

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