Morocco Secures Over €200,000 Grant From AfDB To Boost Water Resources Development

Posted by Eric Ojo Africa, African News, Business News Saturday, February 11th, 2023

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – Morocco has secured €201,000 grant from the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group to strengthens its technical assistance and boost water resources management.

Morocco’s semi-arid climate makes the country vulnerable to climatic hazards, characterized by alternating wet and dry seasons. The country is experiencing recurrent periods of acute drought with increasing water stress and reserves under severe pressure.

The filling rate of dams was less than 27 percent in August 2022, compared to more than 42 percent at the same time the previous year.

The grant, extended through the Bank’s Technical Assistance Fund for Middle-Income Countries, is primarily for Technical Assistance for Dam Design and Interconnection Studies in the north African nation.

It will support technical assistance to the Government of Morocco for the design of dams, river development and inter-basin interconnection studies. The beneficiary institution is the Directorate of Hydraulic Development of the Ministry of Equipment and Water.

The first component entails provision of technical assistance to the Directorate of Hydraulic Development in designing studies of water resources, such as dams and rivers, and interconnection between hydraulic basins.

Similarly, the second component involves ensuring the follow-up and coordination of this technical assistance implementation. Notably, the project will benefit the entire Moroccan population.

Moreover, the expected results at the end of the technical assistance include, a comprehensive assessment of the technical feasibility of large and small dams, river protection, and interconnection projects before they are launched, to ensure that the optimal design for the project by providing technical expertise as well as to confirm the technical characteristics of complex projects using experts in the field.

The Moroccan Government established a National Programme for Drinking Water Supply and Irrigation (2020-2027) to address the difficult water situation and signed its implementation agreement on 13 January 2020.

This programme is expected to spur investments in the water sector over the 2020-2027 period to boost potable water supply, especially in the hydraulic basins that were affected by drought in 2015-2018.

The National Programme’s blueprint consists of the action plan which include the development of conventional water resources, including the construction and/or raising of large dams and the construction of small dams to support local development.

Others are aimed at developing non-conventional water resources, in particular through the desalination of seawater, improving access to drinking water in rural areas, securing and boosting potable water supply to urban areas, improving the efficiency of installations, and increasing the autonomy of the drinking water supply.

In addition, it is equally aimed at saving water, managing demand and enhancing the use of water, ensuring continuous restoration of small and medium hydraulic perimeters as well as the preservation of water quality and the reuse of treated wastewater.