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Five Ministers Inspect Polluted Oued Mouilah as Algiers Weighs International Action

11 November 2026 · Algeria Now

Five Ministers Inspect Polluted Oued Mouilah as Algiers Weighs International Action — Photo : static.euronews.com (adresse collée)

A delegation of five ministers visited the polluted Oued Mouilah and the Hammam Boughrara dam in north-western Algeria on Tuesday, and the Interior Minister said Algeria will pursue those responsible through competent bodies, including at the international level.

The delegation, sent on the instruction of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, was led by Brahim Merad, Minister of State and Minister of the Interior and Local Authorities. He was joined by the ministers of environment, water resources, health and communication. They inspected the watercourse and the reservoir it feeds, which supplies drinking water to Maghnia, Tlemcen and part of Aïn Témouchent.

Analyses by multidisciplinary teams, Merad said, found high chemical and biological indicators, pharmaceutical residues and heavy metals, with some concentrations far above authorized limits. He described the situation as an environmental catastrophe whose perpetrators are known. Officials attribute the contamination to untreated wastewater and industrial discharge from the Oujda area in Morocco, carried across the border by the wadi. No response from Moroccan authorities had been reported by Tuesday evening.

Merad said drinking water is treated before distribution and called for stronger monitoring and testing. A representative of the Tlemcen Chamber of Agriculture in Maghnia said farmers, whose irrigation depends on the same system, are protesting against the discharges.

The visit follows an international conference on transboundary water resources held at the University of Tlemcen from 26 to 29 October, where the pollution was discussed. Former water minister Mustapha Kamel Mihoubi has said Algeria is preparing a legal file backed by scientific evidence.

International law obliges states that share watercourses to prevent significant harm to their neighbours. Algeria depends on the dam for drinking water and farming in a region short of rain.

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