Water is a vital resource that ignores geographical boundaries. Climate change is transforming our relationship with it, creating shortages and flooding. The number of water-related disasters is growing, cracking desiccated earth in the Horn of Africa, creating extreme flooding in Los Angeles and beaching the gondolas in Venice in dry canals.
Climate disruption is a reality and adapting to it is a necessity. We now face not a climate emergency but a climate shock.
Morocco's situation is symptomatic of a growing freshwater shortage heightened by population growth. The situation threatens all areas of activity, from services to agriculture and industry to tourism.
The figures speak for themselves. The Kingdom is entering its sixth consecutive year of drought, a critical situation unlike anything the country has previously experienced. Water tables are dropping and reservoirs are filled, on average, to a mere quarter of their capacity. Today, a Moroccan consumes on average just over 600 m3 a year, or one quarter of what was consumed less than 60 years ago.
Increasingly frequent and intense hydric stress in Morocco has created an emergency in the Kingdom.
Fortunately, the Moroccan government realised the scale of the problem several years ago and is redoubling its efforts to address it by implementing numerous projects to strengthen and secure access to water, accelerating the construction of dams and sea water desalination plants, investing in reusing wastewater, and in projects to save water for drinking water and irrigation networks.
Today, a new approach is being explored of interconnecting catchment areas to create a transport network that ensures a fair distribution of water resources. A shortage in one part of the country can be resolved by transferring excess water from catchment areas elsewhere.
The African Development Bank has been involved in this ambitious project. It started by funding studies on transporting water from catchment areas in the north to the south, and subsequently funded the design of dams and interconnections. The support is precious.
Morocco has been able to count on reliable partners such as the premier development finance institution in Africa. The African Development Bank has been contributing to improving water systems in approximately 30 Moroccan cities since the late 1970s, covering the water needs of over 15 million inhabitants. In total, it has invested EUR 1.2 billion in 15 key structural projects.
Together, these investments are making water a universal good and a shared responsibility in building a sustainable future for all.
