Severe Drought Depletes Moroccan Dams to Critical Levels in Souss-Massa Region

Even the water reserves are drying up and report on the seriousness of the situation caused by an intense drought. An unprecedented situation that worries many Moroccans. The fill rate of the hydraulic structures is now 16.24%. Last Monday, the Regional Council of Souss-Massa looked into the issue in order to find solutions so that the situation does not evolve in the wrong direction.

According to Les Inspirations Eco, it is the Abdelmoumen dam on Oued Issen, in Taroudant, which is "the worst off, because, out of the 198.4 Mm3 (million cubic meters) of normal capacity of this dam, the current retained reserve is 11.7 Mm3". It is followed by that of Youssef Ben Tachfine, which "irrigates the Chtouka plain and which has a capacity of 298.9 Mm3, but which today is filled to the tune of 38.5 Mm3". The same picture at the level of the Moulay Abdellah dam located in Tamri, in the north of Agadir.

However, the Aoulouz dam is at a fill rate of 33.8% against 56.2% in 2019. But "the pressure of the demand for irrigation for the agricultural perimeter of Sebt El Guerdane, in Taroudant, does not help the situation," says Les Inspirations Eco. The authorities are trying to find solutions to deal with the most urgent, but the return of the rain seems to be the best option.

In the meantime, "it is planned to inject the remaining volume of the Mokhtar Soussi dam towards the Aoulouz dam, in addition to the measures of withdrawals of Drinking Water Supply of Greater Agadir from groundwater via operating boreholes," specifies the same source.