Morocco is in a state of great alertness to face a severe water shortage. Besides this topic being spoken about on everyone’s tongue, numbers shown by the Ministry of Equipment and Water today speak for themselves. The latter revealed that the water volume in major dams in Morocco is estimated today at less than 1.89 billion cubic meters, a figure that constitutes a deficit of 85% compared to the annual rate, in other words, 85% of the water contained in the biggest dams disappeared and according to The Ministry of Equipment and Water, Morocco seems likely to lose 30% of its water capacity by 2050.
If there is one fact that Moroccans can’t seem to get out of their heads, it is that their country has been severely affected by the worst drought in nearly four decades mostly because the country is agricultural by orientation according to the High Commission for Planning that said that agriculture is the sector that consumes the most water in Morocco with about 9 billion cubic meters annually, which represents 87.8% of the total water consumed. This catastrophe, which is expected, makes people fear that there will be a strong water shortage at least this year as a result of climate change as well as poor water resources.
While our nation’s increasingly frequent droughts were once felt mostly in rural regions, they now threaten urban areas far more than rural ones and consequently the agriculture sector, threatening its drinking water supply.
Morocco, according to the World Resources Institute (WRI), would experience significant water stress by 2040. (The Kingdom today has only 500 cubic meters of fresh water per inhabitant per year, compared to 2,500 cubic meters in the sixties when the Kingdom had no more than 12 million inhabitants). As a reminder, we experience water stress when we receive less than 1,000 cubic meters of fresh water per person per year. In other words, we reach a critical point because the amount of water needed far outweighs the amount of water that is now accessible.
The Moroccan Executive attributes this deficit to the lack of precipitation. However, there are several important reasons for the lack of fresh water in our nation, including the lack of rain, which is related to global warming, and the overuse of groundwater. According to government records, the latter has been exposed to climate threats for some time and has had a severe rainfall deficiency since September 2021 and an alarming reduction in dam reserves of nearly 89% compared to the yearly average.
According to the research carried out, Morocco has 80 underground water mattresses, which are divided into:
- 48 water tables close to the surface, which are easy to access and exploit, but they are more affected by pollution and dehydration thanks to their proximity to the surface.
- 32 deep water tables that are difficult to access and the high cost of filling and exploiting them.
We also do not forget that this groundwater is characterized by a very uneven distribution at the spatial level, so we find that some regions have abundant quantities of them, while others lack them.
Time changes in general surface imports in Morocco:
Since the middle of the 20th century, studies have proven that the surface water imports in Morocco have experienced a great flow with irregularity, below is a chart that explains:
Through our analysis of these data, it clearly shows there is a hydrological drought that has become continuous, but more than that, this water shortage has become violent and severe, which has led to a very large decline in surface water imports in Morocco.
The current Finance Act had mentioned only one way related to water policy or dams policy to face water shortage. What makes us ask questions about that, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) had warned Morocco in 2020 of water shortage when the country was at the level of water scarcity.
The Finance Act of 2022 referred to an article issued in 2009 (article12), evolving around the fund to fight against the effects of natural disasters, and which had an annual budget of 477 million dirhams, however, it has been decreased gradually to 350 million dirhams in 2022, nevertheless, will this budget be dedicated to this disaster, keeping in mind that the government planned 1 billion dirhams to fund the wastewater treatment program?
Agricultural Policy: [Green Morocco Plan]
- Plan Maroc Vert
Is an agricultural policy planned since 2008, to develop the agricultural sector by having a large part of the annual GDP, as well as to make Morocco a leader in the agricultural field in the continent, by opting for a solid and productive agricultural strategy, and making the international market in the head of the priorities, by planting for export, which means looking for the needs of the international market.
To do so, the strategy of Plan Maroc Vert was thus:
- Strengthening the economy and creating new jobs
- Aggregation
- Supporting both modern agriculture and supportive agriculture
- Private investment
- A contractual approach based on concrete and pragmatic objective
- Reform of the sectorial framework
- Incentive-based pricing for water
- Progressive delegated management of irrigation water
- Generalization of modern irrigation techniques
- Safeguarding of resources (desertification check for example)
This program came as a new chapter of the Moroccan agricultural, launched by King Mohammed VI in 2020, after 2 years of planning and inspiration from his speech in 2018, where the actual prime minister and the ex-minister of agriculture, Mr. Aziz Akhennouch presented the whole strategy in 2018. Generation Green 2020-2030 emphasizes its interest in two major development actors that are linked to each other, which are:
The Human Element:
Encouraging young people to take over in the agricultural field, creating opportunities for young people, and strengthening the attractiveness of the sector are major issues to ensure the continuity of agricultural development as well as digital agricultural services will be strengthened to enable 2 million farmers to connect to e-services.
Sustainability of agricultural development:
More targeted intervention on the agricultural upstream and a reallocation of efforts on the downstream. Reform of wholesale markets, rehabilitation of souks, strengthening of distribution channels and storage platforms … Modernizing the market to maximize the value captured by farmers and improve the quality of products sold to end consumers.
The new strategy aspires to double the water efficiency (value added per m3 of water) through the implementation of the irrigation component of the national program of drinking water supply and irrigation, the continuation of irrigation programs, the development of agricultural space, and the mobilization of non-conventional water resources. This optimization of water resources will be accompanied by the promotion of renewable energies in this area via the support of the energy transition of farmers to renewable energy. In this context of preservation of natural resources, Generation Green will also continue efforts to disseminate soil conservation techniques as the Department of Agriculture will have to mandate next September, and it will have to recruit more than 20 million dirhams, for technical assistance to support it in the implementation of this program.
Plantation of Avocado and Watermelon in Morocco
As the supply of the international market expands, there was an increase in the plantation of several products. The Moroccan government signed new agreements related to avocado and watermelons with many countries such as Israel; European Union, and Gulf, however, such plantation is known to be water-consuming for dams and water tables.
Morocco had started the avocado plantation activity a long time ago, in the Souss region by the end 80s. This business increased by 85.2% between 2008 and 2018 and became an essential field in our country’s economy.
The avocado trees are taking more than 1,300 hectares, in 2019, distributed in the irrigated areas of Souss Massa (106.26 million cubic meters on 18/08/2022), and the regions of Rabat, Khémisset, and Benslimane (331.79 million cubic meters on 18/08/2022).
As a result of this business, the national production reaches more than 14,000 tons, mainly for export. We should mention that it takes 1,600 liters of water to produce 1kg of avocado. However, Zagora is still planting thousands of kilometers of watermelons which reminds us of the avocado plantation that caused huge water wars in Latin America, in a pacific region known for being humid and rich in water.
The plantation of watermelons is an old Moroccan farmer’s specialty. Planted in hot zones of Morocco (Souss, Haouz) and expanded to other regions, hotter ones, like Zagora and Kalaat Mgouna. The culture of the watermelon is very demanding in heat in comparison with other plants, it also requires moisture and light. They need abundant, regular, and uniform watering for rapid growth. Give watermelons 2 to 5 cm of water every week (1 cm equals 60.5 liters.), it means it needs between 121L to 302.5L to grow. Keep the soil moist until the fruit reaches its maximum size, then stop watering while the fruit ripens. Morocco is at the same time the fifth largest exporter of watermelon in the world, with 252.98 million kilos exported in 2021, representing 6.97% of total world exports, and the largest increase in the decade recorded by one of the largest exporters 2,094.1%.
In the early 20s, the alarm bell of water scarcity was rung, AgriMaroc, a farmers’ e-magazine, news, files, interviews, analyses, and agricultural surveys in Morocco, announced in 2020: “In Souss-Massa, there is not a drop of water in the water table, the dams are dry and we suffer from the intrusion of seawater. That is to say that even if farmers try to pump water, there is a call of seawater, and it is harmful to production.” Whereas in Zagora wells have to be dug more than 100 m deep to find water and this is not always the case. The palm trees can no longer be irrigated sufficiently. We can add that those plantations impact negatively the dams too, apart from climate change and the deterioration of rainy seasons, especially in Mansour Dahbi’s dam, which moved from 163.8 Million meter cubes in 2019 to only 58.1 Million meter cubes in 2022, and the global capacity of that dam Zagoura’s region, can hold 445 Million m3, that means that the dam moved of a fill-in-the-blank of 36.8% to 13%. Youssef Ibn Tachfine dam in the Sous region had moved too from 49, 5 million cubic meters in 2019 to 45.5 million cubic meters in 2022.
According to World Top Exports, an independent educational website designed to inspire researchers around the globe, Morocco takes 11th place in the world ranking of the export of avocado in 2021 with an amount of 89.4 million dollars, being the 3rd African state in the field, after Kenya which comes 8th worldwide, and South Africa. Within the same source, Morocco is 3rd world in the export of watermelon, with an amount of 160.8 million dollars, after Spain and Mexico in 2020.
We must also add that Morocco was ranked as the 19th producer of watermelon in 2019 after Saudi Arabia, with 674 833 tons while the production of avocado ranked 22nd in 2019, with 54 576 tons according to National Master, a statistics database that offers a large directory of variables for comparison purposes.
Water periodically moves from third-world countries to rich countries
Ahmed Bakhri
On the August 5th, 2022, Ahmed Bakhri, an engineering expert in water and the environment, confirmed in this regard a statement to “Barlamane.com” that water periodically moves from third-world countries to rich countries, through the export of water-depleting vegetables and fruits such as watermelon, that is exported from countries in North Africa to the water-rich countries of Europe, and also avocados from South America, passing through Morocco to Europe and America.
Mr. Bakhri also stressed reducing the planting of water-consuming plants and replacing them with drought-tolerant plants, with a focus on trees and plants adapted to the dry climate, especially in areas facing heat waves, drought, and water shortages, on an ongoing basis.
What are the plans adopted to manage water resources to cope with insufficient rainfall?
To face the shortage in rainfall and to manage water scarcity and the repercussions of drought years, Morocco has adopted several important measures, including:
- Morocco’s adoption of building dams in various regions to manage the national water resources contributed significantly to the storage of falling and surface water. This action has contributed to:
– Improved indicators of access to drinking water.
-Increased agricultural productivity.
-The development of electric power production.
- The National Water Strategy for the year 2009, which focused on:
-Providing drinking water for all citizens.
-Supplying vital sectors with water.
-Improving water quality.
-Refreshing waterbeds.
-Construction of dams with different capacities in multiple regions.
-Establishing seawater desalination plants.
-Continuing the water-saving program in the agricultural sector.
- Adopting the governance system based on the unit of the water basin to manage the water resource and remedy the large spatial differences. (This system has known several obstacles, represented in the immaturity of the powers of every institutional actor related to water, which resulted in major imbalances).
- King Mohammed VI’s call for the national priority program for the provision of drinking water and irrigation water 2020-2027 to meet the increasing water demand, at a cost estimated at 115 billion dirhams. Among the main themes of this program:
-Continuing construction of dams.
-Demand management and water valuation, especially in the agricultural sector.
-Strengthening the supply of potable water in rural areas.
-Reuse treated wastewater for watering green spaces.
-Communication and awareness raising to establish awareness of the importance of preserving water resources and rationalizing their use.
- Among the most important objectives of this program:
-Diversification of drinking water sources.
-Ensuring water security.
-Mitigating climate change.
- The previous Minister of Equipment, Transport, Logistics, and Water Abdelkader Amara has announced that the construction sites of five major new dams are to be launched in 2021 for an overall budget envelope estimated at 4.8 billion dirhams and a capacity of 525 million m³ (February 2021):
-Oued Lakhdar dam in Azilal
-Taghzirt dam in Béni Mellal
-Tamri dam in Agadir
-Ida Outanane and Alkhankro in Figuig
-Imfout in Settat.
- Despite this, Morocco ranked 22nd in the list of countries with the most water shortage, according to the report issued by the International Resources Institute (August 2019), and the national priority program for the provision of drinking water and irrigation water faced several obstacles related to major cities, among these obstacles :
– The increasing water demand.
-Expansion of urban centers.
-The development of industrial and agricultural activities.
-The prevalence of irresponsible consumer behaviors that do not conserve water.
It should be noted that these combined factors caused a decline in Morocco’s economic growth to 3% in 2018, and even more than that caused a 49% drop in cereal production in Morocco in 2019 according to The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Rural Development, Water and Forests. (Annual need of 75 million quintals)
The Urgent Measures Taken by The Government for 2022
These urgent measures are represented in the formulation of an exceptional program that has been discussed on February 17th, 2022 to mitigate the lack of rain precipitation and its effects at a financial cost of about 10 billion dirhams. These urgent measures for the year 2022 were written through 3 main axes and supported by The Hassan II Fund for Economic and Social Development, upon the order of King Mohammed VI, will contribute three billion dirhams to this program, namely:
- The first main axis: represented protecting the animal and plant balance and managing water scarcity, for which a budget of 3 billion dirhams was allocated.
- The second main axis: is represented in multi-risk insurance for the agricultural season for the year 2022, with a budget of 12 billion dirhams.
- The third main axis: represented in easing the financial burdens on professionals and farmers, with a budget of 6 billion dirhams.
As a response to water vulnerability threatening the most dynamic zones, economically speaking, and most populated regions out of 12 regions, the axis Rabat-Casa and part of the 2020-2050 National Water Plan, the project to interconnect the central basins Sebou, Bouregreg, Oum Er Rbia, and Tensift is entering the study phase knowing that it has been planned since 2012 by The Ministry of Energy, Mines, Water, and Environment. The Ministry of Equipment and Water has just launched a call for tenders relating to the realization of an impact study on the natural and socio-economic environment and the economic profitability of the held project. The documents of this market show that this interconnection project could be carried out in two phases:
© Barlaman Today
According to the data presented, the first interconnection tranche could cost between 3 billion dirhams and 5.4 billion dirhams while 4 million dirhams for its assessment study, while the second interconnection tranche with a capacity of 45 m3/s is planned for the period 2023-2027. which must be carried out within 12 months in hopes that we will hear more about the project or at least updates to keep us in track rather than putting it aside just like what happened before with the previous governments. Carrying out the water transfer works requires a quick selection of the operators responsible for for the 1st tranche and quickly securing the budget needed of 3 billion MAD for the 1st tranche.
The desalination plant of Chtouka Ait Baha guarantees drinking water to the inhabitants of the city of Agadir and its surroundings (1.6 M inhabitants), by producing 275 000m3 per day, and which will increase to 400 000m3 per day divided evenly between drinking water and irrigation water. capital estimated at 3 billion DH. It will also allow the creation of one million working days per year.
The project includes two sea outlets, two channels for the recovery of salt water with a length of 1,100 meters each and a diameter of 2.4 meters, a channel for the evacuation of concentrated water with a length of 700 meters, and a desalination plant, in addition to infrastructure that includes storage tanks for drinking water and irrigation, 5 pumping stations, a central channel with a length of 18.4 km and a distribution network of 480 km. It should be noted that the cost of this strategic project amounts to 4.48 billion DH, including 2.7 billion DH for the part related to drinking water.
As for Casablanca-Settat, in the prequalification file, the launching of the desalination project study should be in March 2022, and the launching of the construction site in June 2023, whereas the works of the 1st phase should be finished in June 2026, with an objective of having desalinated water of 548 000 m3/d (200 Mm³/year) to be put into service in June 2026.
The second phase will end in 2030, with a desalination capacity of 274,000 m3/d (100 Mm³/year) to be commissioned in 2030.
no budget is announced
Aziz Akhannouch, presided on June 22, a signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding and partnership agreements between the public and private sectors for the creation, in Dakhla, of a desalination plant and a wind farm, based on the law 13-09. The desalination plant will be located in the town of Bir Anzarane at a distance of 1,000 m from the coastline and about 130 km north of Dakhla. With a desalinated water production capacity of 90,000 to 100,000 m³ per day, this plant will have a reverse osmosis desalination technology. The mega-project of wind-powered desalination unit for irrigation in Dakhla is becoming clearer.
On a total cost of 1.98 billion DH, 1.64 billion are devoted to the desalination plant of sea water, to be supplied with energy by a wind farm with a capacity of 40 MW. The irrigation network is planned on a linear of about 115 km serving 5,000 hectares of arable farmland. The part “Desalination plant and wind farm”, whose cost is estimated between 1.64 and 2 billion DH,
As the clock ticks, no further information has been disclosed, the thing that raises the question about why neither the Akhannouch government , nor the Islamists government did not make this plan a priority in their investment program for 2022, despite the fact that the situation had been known for several years in the water highway plan, and all experts believe that time to take actions relating to the project must imperatively start in September 2022 in hopes to accomplish the target between April and May 2023, a date on which they foresee the exhaustion of the water reaching Morocco.