Algeria’s 57 dams collected 220 cubic metres of extra water during heavy rainfall in March, meaning people can enjoy a first summer in years without severe rationing, the water ministry said Tuesday.
A ministry official said on state radio that following storms between May 21 and 29, dam reservoirs in the east were 50.9 percent full, with 64.5 percent in the central ones and 33.35 percent in the west.
Years of repeated drought since the turn of the century have forced public utility authorities to ration water supplies in the hottest months, with severe cuts in the west of the north African country, but the prospects for 2006 have improved, the official said.
The theoretical capacity of all 57 dams is 5.7 billion cubic metres, but they currently hold 2.45 billion, he added.
This month’s rain and hail storms also killed at least one person and damaged homes and other properties in the southern region of Bechar, as well as Constantine in the east and Tlemcen and Sidi Bel Abbes in the west, according to press reports.
