Morocco’s Dam Levels Rise to 33.82%, Regional Disparities Persist

Doha – Morocco’s dam reservoirs reached 33.82% of their total capacity on March 15, containing 5.7 billion cubic meters of water, according to data from the Maghreb Assoudoud platform by the Ministry of Equipment and Water.

This signifies a substantial uptick from the 26.58% recorded on the same date last year, alongside a 1.51 percentage point gain from yesterday’s level of 32.31%.

Regional variations remain pronounced across the country’s water basins. The Loukkos basin currently leads with 56.08% capacity, followed by Tensift at 54.12% and Bouregreg-Chaouia at 50.23%.

The Souss-Massa region, however, remains severely impacted, with only 8.42% of its capacity filled, reflecting ongoing drought concerns in the area.

The improvement in water reserves has been particularly notable over recent days. Between March 12 and 14, the country’s dams accumulated an additional 317.13 million cubic meters of water, elevating reserves from 5,123 to 5,440 million cubic meters.

This represented an increase from 30.4% to 32.3% in a 48-hour period.

The Al Wahda Dam, Morocco’s largest reservoir with a capacity of 3,522.25 million cubic meters, registered 1,547.93 million cubic meters as of March 14, operating at 43.9% capacity, an increase of 108.70 million cubic meters in two days.

The Oued El Makhazine Dam emerged as the best-performing facility, reaching 83.4% of its 672.85-million-cubic-meter capacity with 561.44 million cubic meters stored.

The Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah Dam surpassed the symbolic 50% threshold, now at 50.5% with 491.85 million cubic meters of its 974.78-million-cubic-meter capacity.

The Mohamed V Dam demonstrated the most substantial relative progress, with its retention rate surging from 49% to 61.6%, now holding 147.13 million cubic meters of its 239-million-cubic-meter capacity.

The Idriss 1er Dam, with its 1,129.56-million-cubic-meter capacity, now contains 337.94 million cubic meters, representing 29.9% of its total volume.

Meanwhile, the Ahmed Al Hanssali Dam maintains a more modest 11.1% fill rate, containing 74.06 million cubic meters of its 668.16-million-cubic-meter capacity.

Since March 1, the water reserves have accumulated an additional 756.46 million cubic meters, equivalent to approximately half of Morocco’s estimated annual consumption of 1.5 to 1.7 billion cubic meters.