Tunisia - National Water Information System Project (SINEAU)

The Project for the establishment of the National Water Information System (SINEAU), is part of the second phase of the Water Sector Investment Programme - PISEAU II (2009-2013). The project represents a relevant support of the AWF to the Ministry of Agriculture and Hydraulic Resources (MARH) of Tunisia. The implementation of SINEAU fits perfectly into the work of EMWIS (Euro-Mediterranean Information System on Know-How in the Water Sector), which consists in identifying and gathering all the available information and experiences acquired by the partners at local, regional and national levels in water management in order to ensure accessibility to all. The Project is also a key step in achieving the objectives of the PISEAU II Investment Project, and constitutes parallel and complementary funding to PISEAU II. It will thus build on the achievements of PISEAU I and develop them by preparing the integration of the main water users and data providers with a view to monitoring national water policy and eventually providing reliable and harmonized information for the national water accounts. It is relevant insofar as the effective operationalization of SINEAU will provide the Tunisian authorities with a decision support tool with the aim of "Optimizing the agricultural productive value of each drop of water received by each cm² of soil". AWF's support for the implementation of SINEAU is based on 4 components as follows : (i) Development of the NETWORK and the 3 sub-systems SYGREAU, SOLS and COPEAU; (ii) Capacity Building; (iii) Preparation of the Integration of all water users - data providers into the NETWORK; (iv) Project Management. The implementation of SINEAU will improve decision-making in the fields of water and agriculture in Tunisia. It is planned to be implemented over a 3-year period and the total cost is estimated at € 3 350 570.