Hibapress
King Mohammed VI stressed the imperative of a continuous update of the levers of the national water policy and the definition of a strategic objective, whatever the circumstances, to face the increase in water needs and constraints.
This strategic objective consists of both guaranteeing drinking water to all citizens and covering at least 80% of irrigation needs across the entire national territory, the Sovereign specified in the Speech addressed to the Nation on Monday evening, on the occasion of the Throne Day.
In this regard, the King considered it “essential to complete the dam construction program, giving priority to projects scheduled in regions experiencing significant rainfall.”
In this context, the Sovereign called for accelerating the implementation of major water transfer projects between hydraulic basins, by ensuring the connection between the Oued Laou-Larache and Loukous basin and that of Oued Oum Er-Rbia, passing through the Oued Sebou and Bouregreg basins.
The King also called for the acceleration of the construction of seawater desalination plants, according to the program established for this purpose to ensure the annual mobilization of more than 1.7 billion cubic meters.
“By 2030, Morocco will be able to cover more than half of its drinking water needs from these stations, irrigate large agricultural areas and thus strengthen its food security,” the Sovereign said.
The King cited, in this regard, the case of the Casablanca desalination plant, the largest project of its kind in Africa and the second facility in the world to be powered 100% by clean energy, noting that the greatest challenge “remains the completion of the scheduled stations and the related renewable energy projects, within the set deadlines and without any delay.”
The Sovereign also stressed the need to accelerate the implementation of the electrical interconnection project which aims to transport renewable energy from the southern provinces to the center and the north, a project which aims to supply the desalination plants with clean energy.
In this regard, the King called for the development of a national water desalination industry, the creation of training courses for engineers and specialized technicians, and the encouragement of the creation of national companies specialized in the construction and maintenance of desalination plants.
Referring to the issue of rationalizing water use, the Sovereign stressed that it is “totally insane” to spend tens of billions on mobilizing water resources, while “forms of waste and misuse of water persist.”
“Water preservation is a national responsibility that involves all institutions and all stakeholders. This duty also falls to all citizens,” said the King, calling on the competent authorities to be more firm in protecting the public hydraulic domain, to operationalize the water police, to fight against the phenomenon of abusive exploitation and anarchic pumping of water.
The King also strongly called for greater coordination and coherence between water policy and agricultural policy, especially during periods of shortage, in addition to the generalization of drip irrigation.
Also, the Sovereign gave his guidelines for the adoption of a “more ambitious program for the treatment and reuse of water”, stressing the need to encourage innovation in the field of water management and to take advantage of new technologies related to it.
