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Join on Telegram Rabat – King Mohammed VI has called for fresh and urgent action to tackle the water and societal crises that are affecting all of Morocco’s sectors and economic growth.
The King dedicated a large portion of his speech during the opening of the legislative year to discuss the water crisis.
Recalling that the crisis is a universal challenge, the King stressed that the current state of water resources concerns “all of us government, institutions, and citizens.”
Calling for shared responsibility and “diligent handling” of water, the King warned that the water issue should not be “exploited for political outbidding purposes, nor should it be used to stoke social tensions.”
The King also called for “greater efforts to ensure rational, responsible use of water.”
The monarch recalled previous measures the North African country introduced to tackle the crisis but acknowledged the need for new actions.
One of the initiatives Morocco introduced this year was the National Program for the Supply of Drinking Water and Irrigation 2020-2027 launched by the Office for Electricity and Drinking Water (ONEE). The program seeks to increase the capacity of Moroccan dams from 18 billion cubic meters to 27 billion.
Morocco’s measures also include the construction of desalination water plants as well as basins and dams.
To tackle shortages in the sector, the monarch called for “more ambitious initiatives and projects through the use of innovations and new technologies in the field of water saving and the reuse of wastewater.”
The King also called for “particular attention” to the rational exploitation of groundwater and its preservation by putting an end to the phenomenon of illegal pumping and the digging of anarchic wells.
“We should keep in mind that the water policy is not just a sectoral policy; rather, it lies at the intersection of a great many sectors,” the King emphasized.
A World Bank report in July acknowledged that Morocco’s economy has been suffering from the severe drought on top of a slowing global economy and higher energy and food prices.
“The impact of the drought, compounded by the war in Ukraine, highlights Morocco’s exposure to climate and global commodity price shocks,” the report stressed, concluding that the drought Morocco faced in the last four years is a reminder of the country’s economic vulnerability and its reliance on rainfall.
National and local authorities also scaled up water rationing measures in several regions.
The growing water stress also led to a joint resolution between the Ministries of Agriculture and Economy to lift their irrigation subsidy on the cultivation of crops that demand a lot of water such as avocado, watermelon, and citrus fruit.
“The crops that are not eligible for support for the localized irrigation projects stipulated in the second paragraph of Article 6 of the joint decision are: avocado trees, new citrus trees, and red watermelons,” indicated the first article of the resolution.
In June, Morocco’s Ministry of Water and Logistics acknowledged a decrease in water resources amid a domestic water usage increase.
Warning against wastefulness in order to preserve the precious water supply, the ministry launched a campaign to raise alarm regarding drought risks and impacts.
The drought led to a notable decline in agricultural output, which was further exacerbated by a global rise in food prices due to geopolitical factors.
In the 2021-2022 season, Morocco’s cereal production declined by 67% to reach 34 million quintals compared to over 100 million quintals a season earlier.
