Morocco’s King Mohammed VI urged on Tuesday authorities in the water sector to be vigilant in their work and to be efficient in implementing programs.
He chaired a meeting in Rabat dedicated to overseeing progress in the implementation of the National Program for Drinking Water Supply and Irrigation.
Meanwhile, Minister of Equipment and Water Nizar Baraka delivered a presentation detailing the water situation in the country and the progress made in the program.
Through the national program, the government is working to connect the Sebou, Bouregreg, and Oum Er-Rbia water basins, construct new dams, and update the costs of about twenty dams that should increase the storage capacity to 6.6 billion cubic meters of freshwater.
Under the program, the government will also accelerate the transition to non-conventional water sources, such as desalinating seawater and increasing the treatment of wastewater for reuse.
The national program covers plans to boost the supply of drinking water to rural areas in Morocco.
King Mohammed also ordered the government to activate, as in the previous year, the emergency measures of the Program to combat the effects of drought.
In this context, a significant additional investment has been granted to the program, bringing its overall budget to 143 billion dirhams ($14.7 billion).
