page_title: Water supply and sanitation in Morocco
section_title: Water resources management
hierarchical_section_title: Water supply and sanitation in Morocco / Sector responsibilities / Water resources management
caption_attribution_description: license: GFDL photo personnelle de Hadraj prise de vue à Khénifra
context_page_description: Water supply and sanitation in Morocco is provided by a wide array of utilities. They range from private companies in the largest city, Casablanca, the capital, Rabat, and two other cities, to public municipal utilities in 13 other cities, as well as a national electricity and water company. The latter is in charge of bulk water supply to the aforementioned utilities, water distribution in about 500 small towns, as well as sewerage and wastewater treatment in 60 of these towns.
  There have been substantial improvements in access to water supply, and to a lesser extent to sanitation, over the past fifteen years. Remaining challenges include a low level of wastewater treatment, lack of house connections in the poorest urban neighborhoods, and limited sustainability of rural systems. In 2005 a National Sanitation Program was approved that aims at treating 60% of collected wastewater and connecting 80% of urban households to sewers by 2020.
context_section_description: Nine river basin agencies are responsible for the management of water resources in Morocco. River basin agencies have a number of important responsibilities. They authorize water abstractions and wastewater discharges for all users, based on a basin master plan (Plan directeur d'aménagement intégré des ressources en eau, PDAIRE) that they prepare. They also collect charges for abstraction and effluent discharges. They are also supposed to provide financial help and technical assistance to service providers for the prevention of water pollution and the efficient use of water resources. They also monitor the quality and quantity of both surface and groundwater and are in charge of managing water-related emergencies. Finally, they should increase public awareness about water resources. The agencies cover the following basins ranked in the order of the available water resources in each basin: Sebou River, Moulouya River, Oum Er-Rbia River, Bou Regreg River, Tensift River, Loukkos River and the Souss-Massa basin, Ziz-Er Gheris et Sakia el Hamra-Oued Eddahab. The means available to the basin agencies are largely insufficient to carry out their functions.
caption: The Oum Er-Rbia River in central Morocco is the country's longest river. Besides being an important source of water for irrigation, it supplies most of the drinking water for the country's largest city, Casablanca
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