Morocco’s King Inaugurates $92 Million Moulay Abderrahmane Dam to Boost Water Supply

The construction of this dam is part of the Ksoub hydro-agricultural development project. It mobilized investments of around 238 MDH, and drinking water projects including the construction of a water treatment plant for the "Moulay Abderrahmane" dam, the laying of its water supply pipes (135 MDH), and a project to strengthen access to drinking water in rural areas amounting to 192 MDH.

This dam, with a storage capacity of 65 million m³, is an earthfill and concrete dam infrastructure, 72 m high on the foundation and 418 m long at the crest. This infrastructure, which benefits the Essaouira region, is added to the five other dams built in the Tensift hydraulic basin, including the Yaâcoub Al Mansour, Lalla Takerkoust, Abou El Abbas Essebti, Sidi Mohamed Ben Soulaymane El Jazouli and Ouagjdit dams.

Once this dam is completed, a hydro-agricultural development project for the "Ksoub" perimeter has been implemented and benefits 1,207 farmers in the rural communes of Ida Ougerd, Sidi El Jazouli and Ounagha. It aims to fully and sustainably take advantage of the benefits of this hydraulic infrastructure.

Furthermore, this project is carried out on an area of 1,300 ha and also aims to enhance the irrigation water regulated by the "Moulay Abderrahmane" dam, to intensify agricultural production by nearly 125%, particularly for the cereal, arboriculture (olive, pomegranate, fig), market gardening and fodder crop sectors, as well as to improve the added value of agricultural production from 4,400 DH/ha/year to 25,000 DH/ha/year. It has also, so far, enabled the supply of four rural communes neighboring the "Moulay Abderrahmane" dam.