Morocco ‘water highway’ averts crisis in big cities but doubts over sustainability

Morocco is spending two million dollars of northern rivers to supply water to the northern rivers cooked in the south, but experts question the stability of the project in front of climate change.

According to official data, the North African Empire has so far spent $ 728 million, according to official data, dubbing the “Water Member” to redirect the surplus river to meet the capital rabat and the economic hub Casablanca to meet the surplus flow of the Sebu River.

In the future, it plans to tap other northern rivers to expand the project to the southern city of Markesh.

Officials say the project has been successful in removing the immediate threat to the water supply of the country’s most populous sector.

“By transferring surplus water from the Sebau basin in the north, we were allowed to prevent about 12 million people from getting out of the water,” said Zaub Lahrache, a senior Agriculture Ministry official.

In the late 2023, the capital Rabat and its surrounding area came close to the water coming out of the water, when the main reservoir supplied to the city was dried.

Morocco has long been suffering from excessive inequalities in the rains between the Atlas Mountain range and semi-dry and desert regions.

Water Minister Nizar Baraka told AFP, “Fifty-three percent of the rainfall is in only 7% of the national region.”

In the past, rainfall in the Atlas range has produced sufficient surplus flows on most northern rivers to reach the sea even in the most dry months of the year.

These are surpluses that want to tap the “Water Highway” project.

A diversion dam has been built in the city of Kenitra, only inland from the Atlantic coast, to catch the flow of the SEbo River back before entering the sea.

After this, water is treated and 67 km (42 mi) is transported along the underground canal to supply rabat and casablanca.

Inaugurated last August, “Water Highway” supplied more than 700 million cubic meters (24.7 billion cubic feet) in two urban areas in early March, in early March.

But experts question how long water surpluses will be continued to the sebau and other northern rivers, which can be tapped.

Six year drought

The state is already suffering from significant water stress after six years of drought.

According to official data, the annual water supply has come down from an average of 18 billion meters to just five billion in the 1980s.

Despite heavy rains in Northwests in early March, Morocco remains in a drought hold with 75% of the rainfall below the historic average.

The dry mantra has been “the longest in the history of the country”, the Water Minister said, given that the previous dried cycles usually lasted for three years.

Rising temperature – 1.8 ° C alone last year has accelerated evaporation.

Experts say that climate change is likely to see further cuts in rainfall, centered in areas with which “water highway” is designed to tap the surplus flow.

“Future scenarios indicates that climate change will be significantly more affected by climate change than those in the south over the next 60 years,” said water and climate researcher Nabil El Mocad.

He said, “Whatever surplus is considered in the future today due to this increasing deficit, it has been said in a 2020 study in which he recommended to score” Water Highway “back.

There is also a high demand for water for irrigation in Morocco, where there is about one -third of the workforce in the agriculture sector.

Researcher Eberrahim Handoff said that farmers need to be more required to help adopt water-efficient irrigation techniques.

Handf said that “Water Highway” was an effective solution in the absence of options, but warned that climate challenges would essentially create problems in the north as well. “

“We should be cautious,” he said, called for more investment in gylvage plants to provide drinking water to big cities.

© 2025 AFP