(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Tunisia becomes the first Mediterranean nation to cut drinking water off at night. [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-04-03 A 2nd Century Roman Bath, in Gafsa, Tunisia. This open-air Roman bath is 16 feet deep—with Latin inscriptions on the wall (graffiti?) The Pool, filled with water from hot springs (86°F), dries up occasionally due to irrigation. An empty stomach knows no morality. ― Pierre-Joseph Proudhon Social unrest is bubbling under the surface in Tunisia as ongoing drought, the collapse of agriculture, a financial crisis, and under-performing public services take their toll in the North African nation. The nation has become the primary destination for sub-Saharan African migrants to Europe. Widespread violence and racism are sparking a significant effort by panicked refugees to flee the country by sea, increasing multiple tragedies by drowning in the Mediterranean. The nation is undergoing its worst drought on record, and extreme measures have begun to be implemented to deal with a potable water shortage. Effective March, water will be cut off nationwide between 9 pm and 4 am. This is on top of a quota system for drinking water, increasing water prices, and the Agricultural Ministry has banned its use in agriculture until the end of September. From Euro News Green: The Mediterranean region has experienced blistering heat in recent summers and a lack of rainfall in winter. In August 2021, Tunisia experienced record-high temperatures of over 50°C (122 F ). The country’s dam capacity has now dropped to around 1 billion cubic metres, or 30 percent of the maximum, according to senior agriculture ministry official Hamadi Habib. The Sidi Salem Dam in the north of the country, a key provider of drinking water to several regions, has declined to only 16 percent of its maximum capacity, official figures show. Tunisia’s grain harvest will be “disastrous”, with the drought-hit crop declining to 200,000-250,000 tonnes this year from 750,000 tonnes in 2022, senior farmers union official Mohamed Rjaibia told news agency Reuters on Thursday. The restrictions have fueled widespread anger. Farmers have also been urged to stop irrigating vegetable fields with water from dams and in some cases face limits. Tunisia already has food supply problems due to high global prices and the government’s own financial difficulties, which have reduced its capacity to buy imported food and subsidise farms at home. The drought has pushed up fodder prices, contributing to a crisis for Tunisia’s dairy industry as farmers sell off herds they can no longer afford to keep, leaving supermarket shelves empty of milk and butter. In Europe, nations sharing a Mediterranean climate with N Africa have experienced low rainfall and snowfall that has only exacerbated the ongoing droughts in France, Spain, and Northern Italy. They, too, will be facing restrictions as sea temperatures soar and an El Nino as early as June threaten water supplies and agriculture with blistering heat and lack of rainfall. Mní wičhóni [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/3/2161790/-Tunisia-becomes-the-first-Mediterranean-nation-to-cut-drinking-water-off-at-night Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/