Special Issue "Hydrogeology in Tunisia"

06-05-2024

Tunisia belongs to North African countries. It extends over 164,000 km2 with a typical Mediterranean climate. Groundwater is one of the most important natural resources in the country. Groundwater is critical for social and economic activities. It is the main source of water in Tunisia, accounting for approximately 70% of the country's total water resources. It is extracted through wells and boreholes, and it is used for a variety of purposes, including drinking, irrigation, and industrial processes.

Despite the importance of groundwater in Tunisia, its management faces several challenges. One of the main challenges is the overexploitation of aquifers, particularly in coastal areas. This has led to decline in water levels and the intrusion of saltwater, which render the water unusable for irrigation and other purposes. The lack of regulation and enforcement of groundwater use constitute another challenge leading to illegal abstraction and uncontrolled drilling of wells.

To address these challenges, it is necessary to deepen the hydrogeological knowledge on the Tunisian aquifer systems through efficient tools such as geophysical and geochemical approaches to quantify the renewable groundwater resources and to avoid their overexploitation. Furthermore, nature-based solutions such as Managed Aquifer Recharge, together with a robust legislation may improve the groundwater status and management in Tunisia.

The proposed Special Issue (SI) aims to shed light on the challenges and opportunities related to groundwater resources in Tunisia, and to showcase innovative approaches and best practices that can contribute to their sustainable use and management.

For the SI, we welcome manuscripts addressing the following topics or a combination thereof:

  • Comprehensive hydrogeological descriptions of Tunisian aquifers in the form of reviews, encompassing both local and regional scales.
  • Projects related to groundwater, focusing on monitoring, knowledge enhancement, and citizen awareness.
  • Issues associated with groundwater, such as flooding, pollution, remediation, and subsidence caused by groundwater withdrawal.
  • Groundwater supply.
  • Groundwater modeling.
  • Sustainable uses of groundwater, including projects such as Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) and applications of shallow geothermal energy.
  • Groundwater dependent ecosystems.
  • Disaster risk reduction and nature-based solutions linked to challenges concerning groundwater.

The deadline for receiving the manuscripts is September 30th, 2024.
Accepted manuscripts will be given a DOI and published in the Early access section of the journal as soon as the editing process will be closed.
The tentative date for the final publication of the Special Issue is December 31st, 2024.

Editors :

Dr. Anis Chekirbane, Department of Rural Engineering, Water and Forests, Institut National Agronomique de Tunisie (INAT), Carthage University, Tunisia anis.chkirbene@inat.ucar.tn

Dr. Samia Khadhar, Water Research and Technologies Center, Borj Cedria technopark, Tunisia samia.khadhar@certe.rnrt.tn 

Dr. Soumaya Hajji, Faculty of Sciences of Sfax, Sfax University, Tunisia Soumaya.hajji06@gmail.com 

Dr. Imen Ayadi, Higher Institute of Sciences and Technologies of Water, Gabes University, Tunisia ndocim.11@gmail.com