The desalination plants represent Morocco’s firm commitment to meeting its increasingly pressing water supply needs for cities and crops.

King Mohammed VI made this clear in his speech commemorating the 25th anniversary of his reign: “The challenges facing our country require us to redouble our efforts and vigilance, to design innovative solutions and to subject management models to the rules of good governance. One of these major challenges is the issue of water, which is becoming increasingly complex due to drought, the impact of climate change and the natural growth in demand.”

Water shortage

The fact that the king specifically mentioned this issue in his speech shows the magnitude of the water problem. The data provided by the Moroccan Ministry of Agriculture are not encouraging: by 2050, drought will continue in the country, as rainfall is expected to decrease by more than 11%, while the average temperature is expected to increase by 1.3%.

The current situation is very difficult: the average water level of the existing dams in the country is barely 28%. The second largest dam in the country, Al Massira, with a capacity of 2.6 billion cubic meters of water, has seen its reserves drop from 75% in 2017 to just 0.4% today.

The problem is not only social (cities are increasingly lacking water), but also economic, because 80% of the country’s water resources go to the agricultural sector, which employs a third of the active population, according to data from the Ministry of Equipment and Water.

Desalination plants

Faced with the seriousness of the problem, and given that Morocco has some 3,500 kilometers of coastline between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, the country has opted for desalination plants as the best way to meet its water needs.

To deal with the most urgent situations, the authorities are putting into operation mobile desalination plants capable of producing up to 3,600 cubic meters of water per day.

These plants, which cost about US$1.3 million per unit, are the best solution to meet the water needs of areas close to the coast. The desalinated water undergoes further treatment to add the necessary minerals and is transported in tanks for distribution to populations within a radius of up to 180 kilometers.

This is what has been done in Sidi Bouchta and other villages in need. By April 2023, 44 of these facilities will have been put into service and 219 more are in preparation, which will meet the water needs of nearly three million rural residents.

Emergency

In some cases, the situation has required emergency solutions: the drought that hit the Al Massira press led to a shortage of drinking water in the city of Safi, so much so that the authorities had to call on the state-owned Phosphate Company, which operates several phosphate plants in the region, to build a desalination plant to help solve the problem.

The plant was built in record time and began supplying drinking water to the city in August 2023, partially, and from February 2024, at full capacity.

A possible extension of this plant is currently under study to supply the city of Marrakech, located 150 kilometers to the east, and the surrounding region, from 2026.

Construction has also begun on six new desalination plants, including one in the country’s economic capital, Casablanca, and eight more are expected to open, including one in Rabat.

To meet the water needs of Morocco’s administrative capital, the government has undertaken the construction of a large canal, the Water Route, a 67-kilometer-long canal that carries water from the rainy Sebou region to Rabat, and which became operational last September.

Objective: to cover more than half of water needs

In a recent speech, King Mohammed VI announced that the new desalination plants would provide more than 1.7 billion cubic meters of water per year, which would cover half of the country’s drinking water needs and irrigate vast agricultural areas by the end of the decade.

The plan calls for the construction of 36 desalination plants between 2026 and 2027, as well as wastewater treatment plants. And this, while continuing to build new dams.

To this end, the government has allocated a budget of more than 14 billion dollars, intending to connect the northern and southern river basins, ensuring that the flow of water circulates throughout the network and reaches all corners of the country.