Water: To no longer depend on rainfall
M When the rain falls, the morale of Moroccans is high! The rain and snowfall recorded in the kingdom for several days gives hope for water reserves in enough quantity to avoid restrictions in the countryside and cities next summer. One thing is certain, the rainfall at the end of February has had a positive impact on the filling rate of the dams, which reached 32.8% on February 22, roughly the same level as during the same period in 2022, which was 32.9%. This level should be revised upwards following the abundance of rain since the weekend of February 25 and 26.
As of February 28, the reservoirs of the country’s main dams show nearly 5.3 billion cubic meters. Several dams record a filling rate of 100%, such as the dams of Tanger-Méditerranée, Nakhla, Chefchaouen, Achraf Al Idrissi…. Other dams are unfortunately very badly off such as the Twuizgui Ramz (0%), Abdelmoumen (5.7%), Hassan II (10.2%, or Bin El Ouidane dams (12.4%). “ The level of the dams is better than in 2022, a very dry year which was marked by significant water restrictions in many cities. This year, there is a positive snowfall rate for both the dams and the water tables”, says Fouad Amraoui, water and environment expert. This professor at the Casablanca faculty of science believes that people must learn to make better use of water, particularly in the agricultural sector, a sector which monopolizes nearly 80% of national water resources. “One has to think about agricultural products that are less water-intensive”, says Amraoui. Education and awareness are also areas on which one must work. In this sense, the National Electricity and Water Office (ONEE) is very mobilized. Many campaigns are conducted to encourage the general public and businesses to consume water wisely while preserving it from pollution.
‘‘We are not out of the woods yet, even if rain is present during this month of March’’, warns Amraoui who recalls that the water potential is currently 600 cubic meters/capita/annum, versus 2,500 cubic meters/capita/annum in the 1960s. “Fortunately, Morocco is a good student in terms of mobilizing water resources thanks to its policy consisting in the construction of dams, but this is no longer enough. One must explore other avenues, in particular non-conventional waters”, explains the water and environment specialist. In this area, Morocco has implemented an ambitious plan to no longer rely solely on rainfall to meet its water needs. Thus the development of non-conventional resources, in particular desalinated seawater, is a priority in the National Water Strategy for the 2020-2027 period. Hence, nine seawater desalination plants today produce 147 million cubic meters / annum. By 2030, the goal is to build around twenty new plants in order to produce 77,500 cubic meters /day. The treatment of brackish water is also on the agenda with several operational stations in the regions of Tan-Tan, Boukrâa, Aftisat, El Bouidra, Dchira, Antrift, and Ain Bida.o
Fatima EL OUAFI
