Moroccan Minister allocates MAD 2.42 billion for drinking water security

Nizar Baraka, Morocco’s Minister of Equipment and Water said his ministry had allocated MAD 2.42 billion for the 2021-2022 security emergency plan to provide a sufficient drinking water supply across the country.

On January 21, Baraka reported that the plan is focused on hydraulic basins that are suffering from water shortages. Examples include those in Moulouya, Oum Er-Rbia, and Tensift basins.

According to MAP, the minister pointed out that despite the national program for drinking water supply and irrigation which was adopted in 2020-2027, some basins still have water shortages.

Among other measures, the plan calls for the construction of 120 dams by 2024, according to the minister, who noted that dams not only ensure water supply but also prevent flooding.

Accordingly, the ministry implemented different measures for each basin in order to meet the water deficit needs.

Baraka said that MAD 1.3 billion will be allocated for building a dam, discovering new groundwater sources, and establishing a desalination station in the Moulaya basin.

A shortage of water in the Tensift basin prompted the ministry to mobilize 20 Mm3 of drinkable water to meet the needs of the city of Marrakech, highlighting the severity of the water crisis in the region.

Water supplies in the Oum Er-Rbia basin (near Berrechid in Casablanca-Settat) are significant because the basin is surrounded by agricultural lands. In light of the ministry’s efforts to provide water for agricultural purposes, the minister insisted that water supplies for agricultural areas would not be at the expense of potable water.

Water scarcity is a significant threat to the prosperity of Morocco’s agricultural sector as well as its citizens, as the sector is a central part of the country’s economic recovery.

Bakara warns of excessive exploitation of groundwater in Morocco as basin filling rates continue to remain low, noting that the city of Berrechid alone has an annual 2 million cubic meters of groundwater depleted. “Rational” management of water resources is needed throughout Morocco, he said.