Water shortage: Betting on desalination irrigation
During his speech before the House of Representatives, Ahmed El Bouari addressed a number of issues, including the program launched to accelerate the construction of seawater desalination plants, aimed at mobilizing more than 1.7 billion cubic meters by 2030.
This project will ensure supplies for coastal towns and reduce pressure on traditional water resources, making them available for agriculture. These stations will be built to supply irrigation water to the areas most affected by water shortages. The Minister of Agriculture gave an update on the geographical distribution of these stations.
Two are currently under construction. The Dakhla station, with a capacity of 37 million cubic meters per year, is 70% complete. The Casablanca plant, with a capacity of 300 million cubic meters, 50 million of which will be used to irrigate around 8,000 hectares.
Others will follow. The station in the Oriental region will have a production capacity of 300 million cubic meters. While 140 million will be allocated to drinking water, 160 million cubic meters will provide additional resources for irrigation. In addition, there is the Tangier plant, with a capacity of 150 million cubic meters, and the Rabat plant, with 300 million cubic meters. The Oum Er-Rbia and Tensift stations, with a capacity of 300 million cubic meters, will be dedicated to irrigation in the Doukkala, Abda, and El Haouz regions. The new station in the Souss-Massa region, with a capacity of 350 million cubic meters, will supply 250 million cubic meters for irrigation. Not to mention the medium-capacity stations in Guelmim, Boujdour, and Tan-Tan.
The Ministry of Agriculture is also working on major projects to connect water basins, commonly known as water highways. Last year, the urgent section of the project to connect the Sebou and Bouregreg water basins was completed in a record 10 months, enabling more than 580 million cubic meters to be transferred to date, said Ahmed El Bouari.. As a result, more than 580 million cubic meters of water have been transferred to date, says Ahmed El Bouari. At the same time, the project to connect the Oued El Makhazine and Dar Khrofa dams is designed to ensure the supply of drinking water to the inhabitants of the greater Tangiers region. The project is currently underway, with a transfer capacity of around 100 million cubic meters per year. Work is currently in its final stages, and commissioning tests have already begun. This project will also provide irrigation for an area of around 21,000 hectares in Dar Khrofa.
In addition, a new project has been launched to connect the Jorf Lasfar seawater desalination plant to the Douarates plant.
Mohamed CHAOUI
