Oued Merguellil

Oued Merguellil (وادي مرق الليل) is a stream in central Tunisia that flows via Sebkhet Cherita Lake, into the Mediterranean at the Gulf of Hammamet.

Traces of human presence dating back to the Lower Paleolithic were found in the basin of the river Merguellil and demonstrate the antiquity of the settlement of the area by nomads.

[2] Upon arrival, the Romans, became the first sedentary occupants, settled mainly in areas rich in water from the upstream reservoir, more development of housing and of agriculture and where various relics were found.

After the Tunisian independence in 1956, arboriculture and the appearance of the large scale irrigation(especially from the 1970s ) improved the agricultural potential of the basin but also reduced the area available for livestock, which results in a decrease in herd size and a further settling of nomads.

That is why the Tunisian Government was implementing a policy for remote areas of the upstream basin since 1987; their development remains difficult because most households do not have the running water and some homes are only accessible via non-motorable tracks.

After crossing through the fault of El Haouareb, at which a dam was built, it turns into a large river bed but unstable across the plain of Kairouan where tributaries of Wadi Cherishira) and Djebel Baten, join it before heading north-east.

However, due to the small size of farms - often less than five hectares - and fluctuating climatic conditions, farmers are often forced to seasonal migration to the cities to supplement their incomes.

In the downstream basin, irrigated agriculture, especially vegetables, is much more present and water resources has enabled a diversification of crops even if the agricultural landscape remains little changed: cereals (such as durum wheat, sorghum, oats and barley ), potato, onion, pea, bean, pepper, watermelon, melon, tomato, olive, apple, apricot or peach.