Few days after announcing a €10.8 billion (115.4 billion MAD) national plan to meet Morocco’s increasing water needs over the next seven year, King Mohammed VI inaugurated a dam near Essaouira worth about €87 million (920 million dirhams). A plant for the treatment of the dam’s surface water was also set up to increase drinking water supply capacity. Morocco’s water strategy, spearheaded by King Mohammed VI, aims at diversifying drinking and irrigation water supply notably through dam-building with a view of bringing up Morocco’s water storage capacity to 27.3 billion m3. The water plan also provides for better management of water consumption and increasing supply to rural areas as well as building desalination plants adding to the already operational plants in Laayoune, Boujdour, Tan Tan and Akhfenir. Since his accession to the Throne in 1999, King Mohammed VI has consolidated the legacy of late King Hassan II to equip Morocco with water infrastructure through dams of different sizes.

Source: The North Africa Journal January 16, 2020 23:37 UTC