The part of the African continent covered by the Sahara and Sahel Observatory is one of the regions of the world where the scarcity of water resources, combined with poverty, can constitute a major obstacle to sustainable development. In most of the countries of the region, it is vital that water policy and water conservation, both now and in the future, confront the problems posed by the growing tension between the limited water resources on the one hand and the growing water requirement on the other. Water management is therefore becoming crucial for development. Great efforts are required everywhere in water management and distribution, and occasionally already in unconventional water production techniques, in the organization and adaptation of water use, notably by reducing needs and increasing conservation, as well as in the arbitration of resource allocation and the distribution of the associated costs which are increasing more rapidly than the GNP in most of the countries concerned.