Oujda: The Abh de la Moulouya holds its board of directors for 2024.

This article was automatically translated from HIBAPRESS, the Arabic version:

HIBAPRESS-RABAT-MEE The agency of the Hydraulic Basin (ABH) of Moulouya held, in Oujda, its board of directors for the year 2024 under the chairmanship of the Secretary General of the Ministry of Equipment and Water, Abdelfetah Sahibi.

​This meeting was held in the presence in particular of the wali of the Oriental region, governor of the province of Oujda-Angad, of the secretaries general of the provinces under the region, the president of the Council of the Moulouya hydraulic basin, as well as parliamentarians and members of the elected authorities.

In his intervention on this occasion, Mr. Sahibi stressed that the Board of Directors of the Abh of Moulouya is held in an exceptional situation, despite the improvement of precipitation in the region during the past period.

He noted that efforts are continuing to meet the challenges linked to continuous climate change and guarantee the water supply of populations and various economic sectors, as well as irrigation of agricultural land, emphasizing, in this sense, on the government’s commitment to continue the implementation of effective and lasting solutions to deal with these challenges on the national level, in application of the high orientations of His Majesty.

In this same context, and concerning the area of ​​action of the Moulouya hydraulic Basin Agency, the Secretary General said that the previous year was marked by the continuation of the work of the elevation of the Mohamed V dam in the provinces of Taourirt and Nador to reach a capacity of around 1 billion m³, with a rate of progress of the work of 56%, and the construction of the Targa barrage or Madi Guecif province, with a storage capacity of 287 million m³, with a progress rate of 66.6%.

He also recalled the continuation of the work of the Béni Aziman dam in the province of Driouch, with a storage capacity of 44 million m³, with a progress rate of 66.2%.

These important hydraulic projects will allow, as soon as their work is completed, to increase the storage capacity of dams in the Moulouya basin. Thus, the water supply of this basin will increase from 794.72 million m³ currently to around 2 billion m³, an increase of 1 billion 311 million m³.

In addition to these current projects, several urgent measures have been implemented to limit the impact of water stress on the population and economic activities, in particular the separation of drinking water channels and downstream irrigation channels from the Mechraa dami dam, as well as the maintenance of pipes connecting the Mohamed V dam to the cities of Oujda and Taourirt, allowing more than a million m³ of water.

It is also the realization of recognition and exploitation boreholes, the establishment of mobile desalination units of the brass water from the underground layers and the installation of floating barges at the Mechraa Hommadi dam.

Recalling that the Moulouya basin, like the other hydraulic basins in the kingdom, experienced seven consecutive years of drought, Mr. Sahibi pointed out that the hydrological year 2023-2024 recorded a rainfall deficit of approximately 46.9% compared to the annual average, which had a negative impact on the water contributions of the basin dams.

In addition, the level of water tables in the region also had a decline due to drought.

The Secretary General also indicated that thanks to the precipitation recorded at this basin in September 2024 and March 2025, which reached an average of 114.6 mm, the volume of water stored in the barrages of the basin improved, reaching, on March 24, 2025, a total of 329 million m³, an filling rate of 41.37%, against 24.48% on the same date.

He added that, despite this improvement in the water situation, the government continues to implement structuring programs in the Moulouya basin.

The meeting was marked by the presentation of the agency’s work program and draft budget project for 2025, the results of the agency’s achievements in 2023 and the progress of the agency’s program for 2024.

The work of the Board of Directors also experienced the adoption of convention projects concerning several areas, including flood protection, drinking water supply and wadis development in addition to the reuse of treated wastewater.