In the pipes of the water highway
Morocco’s largest water highway project will soon be operational. The pilot phase of this megaproject will soon come to an end. It should connect Wadi Sebou (Sidi Yahia: Gharb Region) to the Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah dam, not far from Rabat.
This is a strategic civil engineering project intended to deploy the interconnection of the Sebou and Bouregreg river basins, which will strengthen the supply of drinking water and irrigation both of the city of Rabat and of the business metropolis, Casablanca. The works will be divided into two phases. The first part will allow the connection of the Sebou dam to the Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdallah dam, at the level of the Bouregreg river basin. This will be followed by the phase of the Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdallah reservoirs, which will then be connected to the Imfout dam in the province of Settat. The overall amount of the investment is 6 billion Dirhams (USD 600 million) financed by the national Government and the regions.
“The North-South water transfer project is one of the mega-projects that Morocco intends to carry out. The project will make it possible to mobilize 850 million cubic meters of water from the rainy Northern part of the country to the semi-arid South”, specifies a document from the Regional Office for Agricultural Development of the Gharb region (Ormvag), and more specifically from its development department (delegated contracting authority).
According to engineers on site, the urgent part of the transfer project concerns the interconnection between Sebou (Kenitra) and Bouregreg (Rabat). Then, the interconnection will have to extend to Oum Rbiaa. The purpose of this tranche is “to recover the volumes of water from the Sebou basin that used to be lost at sea by placing the river basins of Sebou, Bouregreg, and Oum Rbiaa or even Tensift in a common pool”, which will allow, in the long term, for the securing of demand from the coastal area of Kenitra to El Jadida… In a second phase, the transfer will make it possible to secure demand from the Marrakech-El Haouz system. In the meantime, the interconnection will help safeguard the plain of Berrechid (Casablanca region), Doukkala (Azemmour-El Jadida) and indirectly El Haouz-Tensift (Marrakech region).
The first tranche of the interconnection extends over 66 kilometers. The water supply line has a total length of 66.5 km. The supply line concerns the two provinces of Kénitra and Salé. Theoretically, some 400 million cubic meters of water will be redirected annually to the regions of Rabat and Casablanca.
According to engineers, the soils crossed, over the 66 kilometers, are divided into four categories. The heterogeneous nature of the variety of soils provides information on the complexity of the sites, which requires technical prowess in terms of civil engineering, technical studies, and the construction of engineering structures. In total, seven territorial municipalities are covered by the supply line. In the province of Kénitra, the supply line crosses the localities of Ben Mansour, Mograne, Ouled Slama, Ameur Seflia, Haddada, and Sidi Taïbi… In the province of Salé, the supply line goes through the localities of Ameur and Shoul.
Civil engineering / Public works 100% Moroccan companies
The steering and monitoring of the various phases of the water transfer mega-site is provided by several teams of engineers and technicians, design offices, and other stakeholders. These 100% Moroccan companies specializing in civil engineering, construction, construction works, and engineering structures, have developed proven expertise, whether in Morocco or across the continent. These companies include SGTM (SGTM (Société générale des travaux du Maroc), SNCE (Société nouvelle des conduites d’eau), and STAM (Société des travaux agricoles marocains). STAM is a company specializing in earthworks, public works, large-scale irrigation, and road works. The project also includes design and engineering offices, experts, as well as engineers from the Ministry of Equipment… Delegated project management is provided by the Regional Office for Agricultural Development (ORMVA) reporting to the Ministry of Agriculture.
Amin RBOUB
