WATER CAPTURE TECHNIQUES ADAPTED TO CLIMATE CHANGE

Abstract

This article provides a favorable solution to ensure Algeria's water security in the era of climate change. Four main water sources supply drinking water to the entire Algerian territory. These are sky water, water from transboundary aquifers, water from the Mediterranean Sea, and water from wastewater treatment plants. However, this study focuses only on the first water source, which concerns sky water. So, what is the problem between sky water and climate change? This unregulated climate has a two-season hydrological season; a long dry period with high evaporation, followed by a short-wet period characterized by flash floods. In the northern part of Algeria alone, an average of 100 billion m³ of precipitation, of which approximately 85.5% of the evaporation volume evaporates into the atmosphere. So, what can be done to reduce the evaporation rate and store more water? Based on a long work of more than 30 years in the oases of the Algerian Sahara, surveys among the peasant populations were carried out. Not to mention the visits we made to the sites of ancestral hydraulic structures. Thanks to this long work, we have highlighted water capture techniques that adapt to climate change by reducing the evaporation rate at the expense of an increase in the volume of stored water. Build as many sand dams as possible, preferably in cascade on the national hydrographic network to ensure a high-water flow. Build underground dams in the depths of the large wadis of the Sahara and in all the wadis of northern Algeria. Build recharge dams on the wadis. Create infiltration basins throughout the national territory.