AFDB ANNOUNCED APPROVAL TO STRENGTHEN MOROCCO WATER RESOURCES

The African Development Bank (AfDB) announced the approval of a €201,000 grant to help and support technical assistance for the design of dams, river development as well as inter-basin interconnection studies in Morocco.

The grant from the bank’s Technical Assistance Fund for Middle-Income Countries was approved in December 2022, the bank said in a statement.

The project seeks to benefit the “entire Moroccan population, ” the bank said, stressing that the first component covers the provision of technical assistance to Morocco’s Directorate of Hydraulic Development in “designing studies of water resources such as dams, and rivers.”

The components also entail ensuring assessments and coordination of the projects, and technical assistance implementation.

The bank expects several results by the end of the assistance including an assessment of the feasibility of large and small dams, as well as river protection.

The expected results also include ensuring the “optimal design for the project by providing technical expertise” as well as confirming the technical characteristics of complex projects using experts in the field, according to the bank.

The project comes amid concerns about the water management crisis in the North African kingdom, due to several challenges, particularly drought and lack of rainfall during the 2021-2022 season.

Morocco experienced a low filing rate of dams last year compared to a year earlier. Data shows that the country’s filling rate of dams stood at less than 27% in August 2022 against over 42% in the same period in 2021.

The Moroccan government has been reiterating its commitment to taking action that seeks to mitigate water resources pressure.

The action came in response to alerts and instructions from King Mohammed VI, who has recently called for fresh measures to tackle water management challenges.

In October 2022, the monarch recalled that the water crisis is a universal challenge, stressing that the current situation of water resources concerns “all of our government, institutions, and citizens.”

Earlier this week, Minister of Logistics and Water Nizar Baraka noted an improvement in water management, stressing that the country’s resources have exceeded 2 billion and 110 million cubic meters.

The number represents a 207% increase compared to the same period last year.

The filling rate of dams reached 31% with water reserves totaling 5 billion and 100 million cubic meters.

The minister, however, acknowledged the persistence of regional disparity in terms of dam filling rate. The filling rate reached 55% in some regions like the Loukkos dam, but only amounted to 25% in Morocco’s Oriental region.

SOURCE: Moroccoworldnews