Modeling of water demand management in an arid area: case of Bechar city

Abstract

Bechar city is located in arid climate of the Algerian Sahara, with an average annual rainfall of about 72 mm. There are two sources to ensure the water supply of the town of Bechar; the first comes from a watershed made up of eight non-renewable boreholes, and the second comes from the Djorf Torba dam, located about 45 km to the west. The pressure on water demand in the highland region depends on many factors, namely: demographic, social, climatic and economic. This study is based on the application of a water evaluation and planning computer tool on the city of Bechar. Which allows us to analyze the supply–demand balance in the water and assess the impact of different scenarios on the study area for manage the water resource and the projected water demand for the different sectors (drinking water, industrial water and agriculture) until 2060.