Rabat – The Water Highway, an ambitious project linking the Oued Sebou River to the Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah dam near Rabat went online on Monday afternoon.
The project involved the construction of a 66-kilometer structure designed to transport 400 million cubic meters of water annually from Oued Sebou to the Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah dam near Rabat.
With a total budget of MAD 6 billion ($590 million), the project was funded by the government and regional authorities, and aims to provide potable water to Casablanca and its surrounding regions.
The project was executed in collaboration with four local companies and the use of advanced steel pipelines.
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The project is one of many Morocco has undertaken in recent years to fend off the threat of water scarcity, with dams and desalination plants becoming a priority within state projects.
Earlier this year, the Moroccan government launched construction work for 20 dams with a total storage capacity of over 5 billion cubic meters. The government further disclosed plans to inaugurate 1000 small-sized dams by 2030.
Through a 2020-2050 plan, the country is equally allocating MAD 383 billion ($37.6 billion) over a period of 30 years to boost the national water grids for domestic uses and for agriculture. The plan also covers measures to protect the water supply from the climate threat.
Increasing the number of dams is one focus of Morocco’s strategy to maintain water security. The country is also investing intensively in desalination projects, with three stations currently under construction.
The stations would have a total production capacity of over 200,000 cubic meters a day.
In addition to investing in infrastructure, the country is equally looking to promote the adoption of an irrigation grid to optimize the use of water in agriculture, as the sector is currently responsible for 88% of national water consumption.
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