Morocco to automate 1950s canals serving 69,600 hectares in real time
The main Béni Moussa canals will be fitted with automated gates and operated in real time. The network serves a 69,600-hectare agricultural area in Tadla, where 27,000 hectares have already switched, or are switching, to drip irrigation.
The Tadla Regional Office for Agricultural Development (ORMVAT) has selected a bid submitted by a consortium bringing together Rubicon Water’s Spanish and Moroccan partners. The technology supplied by the Australian company is valued at about 12 million Australian dollars, according to its announcement published on the Australian Securities Exchange.
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The 69,600 hectares cited correspond to the area of the Béni Moussa irrigated perimeter. The contract does not provide for automating each farm individually, but for modernizing the main canals that distribute water to them.
The ORMVAT tender 35/2026/DGRID covers the replacement of the control system in the provinces of Béni Mellal, Azilal and Fquih Ben Salah. The administration estimated the total cost of the work at 300 750 240 dirhams.
The bid passed the administrative, technical and financial evaluations. Its selection must now be followed by a 15-day statutory appeal period before the contract is signed.
1950s canals to be operated in real time
The control systems currently used on this network date back to the 1950s. The project calls for their replacement with automated gates, telecommunications equipment and Rubicon’s Total Channel Control system.
The NeuroFlo software will monitor water levels and flows in real time. It will be able to operate several gates simultaneously to stabilize water flows and adjust distribution to recorded needs in different parts of the network.
This automation is intended to replace some manual adjustments and make water delivery more precise and responsive. However, Rubicon’s announcement does not quantify how much water the system will save at Béni Moussa.
The project comes as about 27,000 hectares of the perimeter have already been converted, or are being converted, from surface irrigation to pressurized networks and drip irrigation. Modernizing the main canals should make it possible to supply these systems more consistently.
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If the contract is signed after the appeal period, Béni Moussa will become Rubicon’s largest project in the Europe-Middle East-Africa region and its second-largest contract ever won outside Australia.
