Conseguenze ambientali dello sfruttamento delle acque sotterranee in contesti idrogeologici complessi: il caso del Complexe Terminal (Tunisia)

The access to the groundwater resources in arid and semiarid regions is often the only way to a hope of development for many people. Based on hydrogeological and hydrogeochemical data analysis, the local effects of the intense of groundwater withdrawal in the Complexe Terminal aquifer (Tunisia) is presented on this note. At a regional scale, the progressive depressurization of this confined aquifer, related to its intensive exploitation, caused a progressive disappereance of artésianisme phenomena and a salinization water increase, compromising many oasis irrigation water plants with heavy effects on the region economy. In the case of the Rjim Maatoug oasis, the lack of knowledge on local geological conditions make these effects worse with a spin-off on some human settlements development.