Water stress: Red alert | L’Economiste

Minister Nizar Baraka is on the move like never before. And for a good reason, the water situation is catastrophic and several regions are starting to feel thirsty. After convening an extraordinary meeting chaired by the Head of Government, with the presence of the ministers concerned, the minister turned to members of Parliament to involve them in this issue which transcends political colors and involves the entire nation.

Launch of desalination in Casablanca: Annual supplies from the Al Massira dam to supply Casablanca South, Berrechid, Settat, El Jadida, Safi, Sidi Bennour, Yousssoufia, and Benguerir reach 300 million cubic meters, … except that the stock of the Al Massira dam on July 05 reached 134 million cubic meters, which corresponds to a 5.5% filling rate versus 11.82% on the same day last year. The minister concluded that it was necessary to launch the construction of the seawater desalination station projects in the Casablanca-Settat region. Indeed, last March, a call for expressions of interest for the region was launched, within the framework of the public-private partnership and following the opening of bids on  June 24. The ONEE (National Office for Electricity and Drinking Water) is leading this operation.

Desalination also for Safi and El Jadida: Added to this is the acceleration of the construction of the seawater desalination station to ensure the supply of drinking water to the city of Safi, through the transfer of the implementation of this project to OCP (Cherifian Office for Phosphate). The project involves 22 million cubic meters for industrial water, and 15 million for drinking water. According to forecasts, the start of its operation is to take place before the end of this year. Still within the same perimeter, it will be a question of guaranteeing the supply of drinking water for the city of El Jadida from the seawater desalination station of Jorf Lasfar (25 million cubic meters for the drinking water) during the first part of 2023 (OCP).

The study for Nador launched: Use of additional groundwater and launch of the seawater desalination project in Nador is on the agenda. An all-encompassing study for the execution of the seawater desalination project in the Oriental region has been launched. The opening of the bids took place last June, with a production capacity of 100 million cubic meters per year, as an initial phase. Its production will be doubled in a second phase. It is the line ministry which covers the charges.

The great return of water tank trucks: In order to ensure supply in rural areas and zones suffering from a shortage, a complementary emergency program has been set up. In this sense, two agreements were signed last April between the Ministries of the Interior and Finance. They consist of the purchase of 706 tank trucks with 471 million MAD from the Interior Ministry to be distributed over 75 provinces to guarantee drinking water in the centers and hamlets which are experiencing a deficit. 

M.C.