Morocco grapples with an uncertain future as dam filling levels plummeted significantly in the year 2023, with recent statistics revealing a stark decline, with the overall filling level dropping to 23.3 percent.
Comparatively, during the same period last year, the filling level stood at a more stable 31.4 percent, emphasizing a troubling trend.
The country’s primary dam, “Al-Wahda Dam,” which boasts a capacity exceeding 3.522 billion cubic meters, faces a critical situation. Presently, its filling rate stagnates at a mere 40.9 percent, with a reserve of only 1.44 billion cubic meters. This time last year, the dam boasted a more promising 55.4 percent filling rate, with a reserve of 1.951 billion cubic meters.
Similarly concerning is the status of the second largest dam, Al Masira Dam, with a capacity of 2.657 billion cubic meters. Its current filling rate struggles at a mere 1 percent, holding a reserve of a meager 27 million cubic meters. The dire situation also extends to the Bine El Ouidane Dam, the third largest in the country, which is currently filled at a 5 percent, holding a reserve of only 60.4 million cubic meters, despite its capacity of 1.215 billion cubic meters.
The Idris I Dam, ranked as the fourth largest with a capacity of 1.129 billion cubic meters, lags significantly at a mere 15 percent filling rate. Meanwhile, the fifth largest dam, the Sidi Sidi Mohammed Bin Abdullah Dam, with a capacity of 974 million cubic meters, shows a concerning filling rate of 18.2 percent.
The cumulative filling rate of the country’s top ten largest dams paints a dire picture, barely reaching 13 percent, providing a meager reserve of 2.47 billion cubic meters. In stark contrast, smaller dams, though numerous, maintain higher filling rates, despite their inability to yield significant reserves.
At the level of water basins, distressing statistics continue. The Tensift Basin records a filling rate of 47.35 percent, leading the charts, followed by the Locus Basin at 38.89 percent, the Sebou Basin at 36.49 percent, the Ziz Locus Basin at 26.98 percent, the Moulouya Basin at 25.04 percent, and the Draa-Oued Noun Basin at 20.51 percent. The Bouregreg Basin stands at 19.25 percent, the Souss-Massa Basin at 11.31 percent, and the Oum Er Rbia Basin at a meager 4.55 percen
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