Agadir – The Moroccan government will launch the construction of five new dams in 2021, minister of Equipment, Transport, Logistics and Water, Abdelkader Amara revealed on February 9.
According to Amara, the overall budget will reach MAD 4.8 billion ($539 million) and the dams will have a total capacity of 525 million cubic meters. The project will see the construction of dams in Oued Lakhdar (province of Azilal), Taghzirt (province of Beni-Mellal), Tamri (prefecture of Agadir Ida-Outanane), and Alkhankro (Figuig).
The minister noted that the projects are part of the 2020-2027 national water plan, which aims to increase the total capacity of dams to 27 billion cubic meters upon completion.
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Out of the 23 large dam projects launched between 2009-2020, Amara said that seven are operational while 16 others, of which five were initiated in 2020, are still under construction.
The Moroccan government has made its priority to strengthen and secure the supply of drinking water as well as to improve its water networks, especially in rural towns. In 2020, the regional council of Casablanca-Settat announced its plan to build 21 dams in the region.
Within the framework of the national water strategy, Amara said that out of the 60 planned dams, only 26 have so far been built or are currently under construction.
Discussing Morocco’s progress in resource management, Amara underlined that the country has established notable infrastructure for water management. To date, Morocco has built 149 large dams with a total capacity of over 19 billion cubic meters, in addition to 133 smaller dams.
The North African country is set to face a serious threat of water stress in the future. The World Resources Institute (WRI) ranked Morocco 22nd in the overall ranking and 12th among Arab countries.
