6. Integrated Water Resources Management in Morocco

In Morocco security of water supply has always been an important consideration in the economic and social development of the country. The consequence of population and economic growth, accentuated by an increased variability and scarcity of water resources, is the growth of requirements for the quantity and quality of water, their more intensive and comprehensive use. The emphasis in Moroccan development planning has been for the last five decades on maximizing the capture of the country’s surface water resources and providing for their optimal use in irrigated agriculture, potable water supplies, industrialisation and energy generation on a sustainable basis. Enormous capital resources have been invested in the essential infrastructure to control surface water flows. To meet the challenges posed by the growing water scarcity, the rising costs of supplying additional water and more direct and intense competition among different kind of water users and uses, emphasis has shifted to the more sophisticated and difficult task of ensuring socially and technically efficient allocation of the existing water resources among competing consumer groups on a sustainable basis. An integrated approach to water resources management is adopted through mutually reinforcing policy and institutional reforms as well as the development of a long term investment program mobilizing innovative financing mechanisms including public-private-partnerships.