One of the pillars of Morocco’s economy is currently under pressure by the scarcity of water, which threatens vast areas of agriculture … The parched fields stretch as far as the eye can see along the plains overlooking Agadir, in the southwestern Morocco. With the persistent drought, this large agricultural area is deprived of irrigation by dams, whose water is now reserved for the inhabitants. “These trees are almost 20 years old, they are dead, there is no more water”, sighs Ahmed Driouch in front of the withered orange trees of a farm near Agadir.
Faced with a drought that has lasted for three years and which weighs on water resources, the authorities have found no other solution than to gradually divert water from the dams that irrigated farms in the Agadir region (Souss- Massa) to ensure access to drinking water for nearly a million Moroccans. Since the beginning of October, water stress has been such that the water from the taps has been cut off between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. in Agadir. “I do not understand why they did not look for something else to provide drinking water, instead of marginalizing the farmers”, deplores Mr. Driouch, in his fifties, at the head of a local agricultural association.
Nationally, the filling rate of dams peaked at less than 37% at the end of October, against 45.6% at the same period last year. And it is around Agadir, the leading citrus and early fruit exporting region, that reserves are at their lowest. “The deficit in surface water is 94%. We have never observed such a thing on the scale of the basin, it is worrying”, warns Abdelhamid Aslikh, responsible for the Agency of hydrographic basins for the region. According to him, the restrictions on access to tap water are a “precautionary measure that has saved 20% of the water wasted at night”. The authorities have also decided to ban in Agadir “the irrigation of golf courses and hotel gardens with drinking water”, by “encouraging the use of treated wastewater”.
About sixty km from the coastal town, the Abdelmoumen dam, once popular with local swimmers, is dry. Weeds have grown and the famous green argan trees that border the Anti-Atlas Mountains have lost their luster. This dam no longer irrigates agricultural land since 2017. So, on the other side of the mountains, the olive trees have dried up except for a few plots watered with water from wells. Without irrigation by dams, farmers have no choice but to wait for the scarce rains or to tap into a water table that has been overexploited for years.
But the water from the wells is “salty” and not suitable for all crops, believes Abderrahmane, who used the water from dams for years before being forced to reduce his activity to a single piece of his field, in changing its irrigation mode. “I’ve never seen such a drought,” he laments, staring at cracked cacti. In addition to Souss-Moussa, the stopping of irrigation of farms by dams also concerns the regions of Marrakech (south) and El Jadida (west), according to the Ministry of Agriculture, which specified that the cuts will continue until that “the reserves of the dams improve”.
“The current situation cannot be blamed on weather conditions alone. Rather, it is the result of irrational crops that have drained water to produce water-hungry fruits and vegetables,” said Haidar, 25. In 2008, Morocco launched an ambitious agricultural strategy, the Green Morocco Plan, intended to improve the means of production and the incomes of small farmers and which “enabled the saving of two billion cubic meters of irrigation water. “, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. But the young man preferred to abandon the cultivation of a small field he was renting to become a greengrocer, the only way to provide for his family.
The Moroccan economy, deeply affected by the novel coronavirus pandemic, is dependent on the good health of its agricultural sector, the main contributor (14%) of the GDP ahead of tourism and industry. The authorities are now banking on the start-up, in April 2021, of a seawater desalination plant in Agadir. This should make up for the region’s drinking water deficit and re-irrigate part of the agricultural land.
