The leading expert of WE&B consultancy Mme. Raoudha Gafrej has been in Gabès in April to interview and meet all relevant actors in the city’s water management field. A total of 26 interviews have been done with 22 stakeholders linked to the municipality; regional services of environment, infrastructure, agriculture, and coastal protection and management; as well as with some actors of the civil society, academy, and private sector. All interviewees showed their interest in the project and underlined the pertinence of the subject. In addition, Mme. Gafrech had the opportunity to visit some relevant places such as Gabès oasis and some of the Gabès hotspots on urban water treatment and management in the city. She also saw a project led by a local association managing an ecological water treatment plant.

The following steps in the diagnosis development will be to integrate all the information gathered during this mission (also the one on hard copies) and provide Gabès city council with a survey to reach a more broad public among Gabès citizens. The final report deadline is foreseen to be the end of May, and it will be published in Jun, after final validation for the project partners.

In general terms, the diagnosis is the first step to materialise a municipal strategy for non-conventional water resources. According to UNDP (2019), in the current conditions, Gabès will be suffering in 2030 from permanent urban runoff and flooding during heavy rainfall sequences, pressure on water tables, salinization of the aquifer, and poor management of urban water in the absence of a comprehensive strategy.

In parallel, the project ValEUr Gabès is also aiming to provide training on water efficiency and valorisation of all water resources for public servants and private actors. Furthermore, it is also planned to implement three pilot projects as good practices on NCWR solutions in Gabès.

ValEUr Gabès is a project implemented by a partnership between MedCities, Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB) and Gabès City Council and funded by the ENI WES MED funding.

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