TWISTT Workshop in Tunisia: Day 1

TWISTT Workshop in Tunisia: Day 1: Focused on Water, Irrigation and Stakeholder Dialogue

Day 1 of the TWISTT workshop in Tunis focused on one shared goal: improving water irrigation management through better data, stronger coordination, and closer dialogue with stakeholders. The agenda covered the opening session, partner contributions, three thematic workshop summaries, the presentation of the selected pilot plot, and the discussion and validation of the socio-economic questionnaire.

The first technical presentation introduced the contribution of the Multidisciplinary Faculty of Nador, with research activities in three case studies: barley, table grapes and melon. Their work combines field measurements, soil and climate observations, UAV monitoring, crop performance indicators, and dissemination activities.

Xcalibur also presented its role in TWISTT, combining communication and dissemination leadership with a technical contribution in airborne geophysics. This work will help track water table evolution, identify recharge areas, and provide subsurface information that complements Earth Observation for stronger water accounting.

A central part of the day was the presentation of the three thematic workshops already carried out in Tunisia. These sessions addressed hydrological flows, irrigation and crop water needs, and water governance, with a strong participatory approach and contributions from a wide range of actors.

In the hydrological flows workshop, the discussion focused on groundwater pressure, recharge, strategic infrastructure and monitoring. Key points included the connection of El Houareb dam to northern water systems, aquifer recharge, possible underground dams, and stronger near-real-time monitoring of water levels, salinity, discharge and pumped volumes.

In the workshop on cropping systems, irrigation and water stress, the discussion highlighted both socio-institutional and technical measures. These included awareness actions for farmers, participatory extension, support for smart irrigation, treated wastewater reuse, smart meters, and technologies that improve soil water retention and reduce evaporation.

The governance workshop focused on regulation, profitability and conflict management around water use. The discussion reviewed existing mechanisms such as extraction control and local collective management, and also pointed to future needs such as stronger regulation, strategic infrastructure and better multi-actor coordination.

Another important session was the presentation of the selected pilot plot, where the capacitive probes will be installed. The process included coordination with CRDA, shared selection criteria, biophysical analysis and field visits, leading to the final selection of plot X4.

The day closed with the presentation and discussion of the draft socio-economic questionnaire. The questionnaire is designed to collect information on water use, irrigation practices, farm structure, income and costs, irrigation constraints and climate change perceptions, while also opening discussion on harmonisation across countries, multi-year data collection, crop rotation and GPS-based spatial integration with Earth Observation.

Overall, Day 1 showed that sustainable water management needs more than technical analysis alone. It requires connecting field data, Earth Observation, socio-economic information and stakeholder knowledge into one shared framework for action.