Water sector opportunities in Morocco
Morocco is looking for solutions to alleviate its alarming water crisis. The World Resources Institute has estimated that Morocco will be among the 20 most water-stressed countries in the world by 2040. The backbone of the country’s water supply is the network of water reservoirs, which are at historically low levels. The groundwater resources are rapidly depleting. To tackle the water crisis, Morocco is intensifying its efforts to increase desalination and reservoir capacity, build water transport infrastructure and develop wastewater treatment capacity. In addition to technical solutions, Morocco needs structural, long-term policy adjustments. The Memorandum of Understanding between Finland and Morocco in the water sector allows for cooperation between both the public and private sectors.
The water crisis is both acute and chronic
As Morocco enters its fifth consecutive drought year, Morocco's chronic water scarcity constitutes also an acute crisis. The backbone of the country's water supply has been its network of 153 reservoirs, which are at historically low levels: with the overall water level dropping to just 23 % by the end of 2023. The situation is even more alarming when zooming in at the regional level. The second largest dam of the country, Al Masira Dam, which supplies Morocco’s most densely populated Casablanca – Settat region, is currently at only 1 percent, or 27 million cubic meters of its overall capacity of 2.657 billion m3. The dire situation also extends to the Bine El Ouidane Dam in Central Morocco, the third largest in the country, currently filled at 5 percent.
In response to the water crisis, Morocco has had to resort to various emergency measures to save water and is either implementing or planning different restrictions. After the Minister of Water, Nizar Baraka sounded the alarm bells, the Ministry of Interior has instructed the regional authorities to put in place water-saving measures in the most affected areas of the country. Depending on the locality, access to tap water is limited by either reducing water pressure or by planned supply cut-offs. A ban has been ordered on the use of drinking water to irrigate public parks, swimming pools, and cleaning streets.
Morocco’s water per capita has drastically reduced to a current level of 606 m3 compared to 2,560m3 in the 1960’s, according to Minister of Infrastructure and Water Nizar Baraka. The ratio is expected to decline to 500m3/capita/year by 2030, which is the absolute water scarcity threshold. The constitutional advisory body Economic, Social and Environmental Council (CESE) of Morocco has warned that if Morocco does not adapt its water consumption patterns to the effects of climate change, 80% of its water resources will be lost by 2045. CESE sees a particular threat in the rapid depletion of groundwater resources. There has been an alarming decline in the surface area of water reservoirs, their quality has deteriorated due to seawater, nitrate pollution and increase of natural salinity. According to data from the World Bank, agriculture accounts for 85 % of Morocco's water consumption, and groundwater resources have been heavily used for agricultural expansion.
The chronic drought has been one of the major factors in the slowdown in Morocco's economy. The World Bank's 2023 Fall Economic Outlook forecasts growth of 3.1 % for the 2023, compared with 7.9% in 2022. The slowdown is also affected by global economic uncertainties and rising world prices for energy and raw materials. The trend highlights the vulnerability of the Moroccan economy to both the effects of climate change and global price shocks.
Morocco's water policy
The right to water is enshrined in Article 35 of the Constitution. Morocco's water policy is based on the National Water Management Plan 2020 - 2050, with a total budget of 380 billion dirhams, about 36 billion euros, and is now implementing its component, the National Priority Programme for the Supply of Drinking and Irrigation Water 2020 - 2027, with a budget of 115 billion dirhams, almost 11 billion euros. Water is also identified as an important sector in the "New Development Plan" of 2021 under the guidance of King Mohammed VI. Morocco's priorities and investments will be defined by the Ministry of Equipment and Water Management. ONEE, the national electricity and water utility, invests in major strategic and structural water and sanitation projects and manages public tenders in the sector.
Morocco's long-term objectives relate to the construction of new reservoirs, desalination of sea water, reuse of waste water, development of the water transmission network, groundwater exploration and the development of drinking water supply in rural areas.
Future priorities for water management in Morocco
Morocco has relied on reservoirs as the backbone of its water supply since 1967. The country has a total of 149 large dams with a combined capacity of 19 billion m3. This capacity will be increased by the construction of 20 new dams with a total capacity of 5.38 billion m3. There are also plans for inter-dam transfer projects to even out the differences in water resources between the different regions. A significant step in improving the water infrastructure was the launching of the Sebou and Bouregreg reservoirs waterway project, which connects the Sebou and Bouregreg water basins, delivering water to the approximately 12-million population of the region that includes Rabat and Casablanca. The megaproject with a cost of 9 billion dirhams was operational only nine months from start of operations, and financed entirely by public funds.
Morocco is investing heavily in seawater desalination. Minister Baraka recently announced that 50 % of the drinking water supply will be provided through desalination by 2030. The country currently has twelve desalination plants, with the aim of increasing the number to twenty before 2030 and fifty by 2050. The new desalination plants must be based on green energy, as part of the country's ambitious emission reduction policy, but also for economic reasons. So far, energy has been estimated to account for 40% of the cost of desalination. The construction of the country’s largest desalination plant with a 300 million m3 capacity in Casablanca are expected to start this year, whereas the tender for the second largest, 250 million m3 plant to be built near Nador in Northern Morocco is expected shortly. In addition to ONEE, the state-owned OCP is a major player in the desalination scheme of Morocco. A concession contract between the government and OCP was signed in July 2023. Under the agreements, OCP will aim to provide 85 million m3 per year 2023 – 2025 and 110 million m3 in the following phase by desalination.
In the future, the importance of reusing waste-water will also increase. Morocco's current wastewater treatment capacity is 70 million m3 per year. The Ministry of Water would like to increase this to one billion. It is hoped that wastewater treatment will help the agricultural sector in particular. New industrial areas should also be equipped with wastewater treatment plants.
Morocco is also working to improve drinking water supply in remote rural areas as part of basic services.
In 2019, Finland and Morocco signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Water Resources Management, which allows for cooperation between the public and private sectors. The water sector in Morocco provides ample opportunities for Finnish expertise and technology in areas such as industrial and domestic wastewater treatment solutions, rural drinking water and sanitation, and water-saving technologies in agriculture.
The Embassy in Rabat and Business Finland in Casablanca are happy to support Finnish companies with further information on the market.
Text by Unna Mustalampi, Deputy Chief of Mission, unna.mustalampi@gov.fi