Equipment and Water Minister Nizar Baraka told the House of Representatives on Monday in Rabat that his ministry has launched a new water security strategy reflecting climate change.
Speaking at the parliament question time, Baraka said the strategy follows King Mohammed VI’s call for a new generation of major strategies. He noted that 53% of rainfall is concentrated on just 7% of national territory, and that some aquifers are overexploited.
On dams, 17 large dams with 5.4 billion cubic meters of storage are under construction, six medium dams are being built and three more are planned. Twelve new dams, adding 4.9 billion cubic meters, have been launched, with a target of 27 billion cubic meters of total storage by 2031. The first tranche of the Sebou-Bouregreg water transfer is complete, and a second, linking the Bouregreg and Oum Er-Rbia basins, starts next year.
Desalination capacity has risen from 46 million cubic meters in 2021 to 447 million today. This year the ministry will launch stations at Nador and Driouch, with 300 million cubic meters a year, and at Tangier, with 150 million. Next year brings a 350-million station at Tiznit, plans for Tan-Tan, Guelmim and Rabat, and an extension at Chtouka Aït Baha. By 2031, output should reach about 1.8 billion cubic meters, covering 60% of drinking water needs.
Baraka also cited drip irrigation extended to more than one million hectares, more treated wastewater reuse, a project to protect aquifers, and the use of artificial intelligence and digitalization.
On floods, he described a five-pillar plan including a new atlas of exposed areas. Twenty-seven protection projects have been completed in provinces from Larache to Laâyoune, 21 more are under way, and real-time rainfall monitoring and an early warning system are being developed.
