Morocco : An ambitious project for Governance and Integrated Water Resources Management
Updated : 20/12/2015
The "Governance and Integrated Water Resources Management in Morocco" project was prepared by the Water Department of the Delegate Ministry in charge of Water at the Ministry of Energy, Mines, Water and the Environment (MEMEE) of the Kingdom of Morocco, to benefit from the European experience in order to advance its mission of water resources management and coordination of River Basin Agencies.
France was chosen as the leader of this twinning project in partnership with Spain and Romania and Austrian experts.
Since 1995, Morocco has had a Water Law that constitutes the legal basis for water policy and that allowed, firstly, to establish the principles of Integrated Water Resources Management and, secondly, to institutionalize water resources management at river basin level and the "user pays" principles.
Under the "Achieving Advanced Status" program, the country wants to continue its convergence with the European Community “Acquis”. A new water law is being prepared and will benefit from the experience acquired in the implementation of the Water Framework Directive in the three EU Member States.
The project will allow:
- Improving River Basin Management Plans through a pilot experiment in the Sebou Basin;
- Establishing a national program for regulatory convergence in the water sector.
This project of great importance for the entire Moroccan water sector has been implemented by IOWater on behalf of the French Ministry of Ecology (MEDDE) since October 2015 for 2 years, with the support of the French Water Agencies, BRGM and the main Spanish and Romanian public institutions working on the WFD in their respective countries.