Water stress: Morocco hits rock bottom
Nizar Baraka is a methodical person. Since he has been at the head of the Ministry of Equipment and Water, he has made a point of presenting to his colleagues, at regular intervals, the water situation and the measures taken to remedy the recorded deficits. During the last Council of Government meeting last week, the Minister sounded the alarm concerning the emergency situation in which Morocco finds itself.
■ Water supply in the Casablanca-South region until November 15: In any case, three major regions are in the red. This is the case for the water system of the Al Massira dam which serves Casablanca-South, El Jadida, Safi, Sidi Bennour, El Youssoufia, Berrechid, Settat, Marrakech, Benguerir, and the neighboring centers. Their water needs are estimated at 235 million cubic meters. The volume of water reserves of the Al Massira dam that was estimated in September 2021 to revolve around 264 million meters, currently stands at 96.7 million cubic meters, i.e. a filling rate of 3.6%. This stock will ensure the water supply until November 15.
■ Marrakech is also in the red
The volume of storage in the dams supplying this city is estimated at 30 million cubic meters. This ensures supply until November 10, i.e. 50 days, said the minister. In order not to stand idly by in the face of this catastrophic situation, Nizar Baraka has multiplied initiatives by supporting the supply of the Greater Marrakech area from the dams of Moulay Youssef and Al Massira. The minister also tightened control over the ring road and Tassaout pipelines. Similarly, the Nizar Baraka demanded the exploitation of groundwater according to the program drawn up by the producers and distributors of drinking water. As a reminder, this stock reached 130 million cubic meters at the beginning of September 2021.
■ Water available until December for the cities of Oujda and Taourirt
Nizar Baraka highlighted the situation of the cities of the Oriental region, supplied by the dams of Mohammed V and Machraâ Hamadi. This is the case of Oujda, Nador, Berkane, Saidia, Taourirt, Oriental Laâyoune, Zaio, and Cap de l’eau, which have needs estimated at nearly 80 million cubic meters. The volume of the reserves of these two dams was 40 million cubic meters in September 2021. For the time being, Berkane and Nador are supplied satisfactorily from the groundwater. Ditto for the supply of the cities of Oujda, Taourirt, and Laâyoune, except that this exploitation runs until next December. In these areas, the Government has equipped wells and boreholes to exploit these waters. Added to this is the strengthening of inspections to prohibit the use of unauthorized water.
■ Rationalization of use is imperative:
In parallel with these actions, measures have been taken such as awareness-raising for the rationalization of water use. Ditto for the construction of new boreholes to support the supply of different areas with drinking water, as is the case for example of the city of Marrakech. Also on the menu is the strengthening the control of undeclared water extraction operations. Similarly, more than 100 public and semi-public entities in Marrakech are switching to consumption control with a view to improving water efficiency.
Mohamed CHAOUI
