Decision aid supports for evaluating agricultural water reuse practices in Tunisia: The Cebala perimeter

• This study focuses on the case of North Tunisia, the Cebala perimeter.
• Policymakers are reconsidering the use of recycled water for irrigation.
• Stakeholders agree that the best option is to invest in tertiary wastewater treatment.
• 80% of farmers are willing to pay more for higher quality treated wastewater.

A more efficient and sustainable use of available water resources, especially in arid and semiarid areas, is a real challenge for many countries. The reutilization of treated wastewater for irrigation purposes is becoming more widespread in many places around the world because of its positive economic, agricultural and environmental impacts. The present study focuses on the case of North Tunisia, where policymakers are reconsidering the improvement of irrigation practices based on using recycled water. Its aim is twofold: firstly, evaluate the opinion of the stakeholders involved in decision-making (policymakers and farmers) through a compromise programming (multi-criteria decision making technique). Secondly, determine whether farmers would be willing to pay more for water if irrigation programs were improved and analyze the factors that influence their decision. The present study peruses a binary logistic regression analysis to address these questions. The main finding is that policymakers and famers agree that the best option is to invest in tertiary wastewater treatment. Indeed, more than 80% of farmers are willing to pay more for higher quality water.