Case No. 3: National programme for water saving in irrigation (PNEEI)

As a result of the continuing decline in water resources as needs have increased, especially in the agricultural sector, the public authorities have set ambitious goals in the domain of water saving. Estimates supplied by the Department of Water identify water availability of 730 m³/per inhabitant/per annum in 2010, which is likely to fall to 520 m³ by 2020, thereby ranking Morocco as one of the countries suffering from serious water stress.

36 Figure 10

Evolution of the availability of water resources (in m³/per inhabitant/per annum)

.

Source: Ministry of Energy, Mines, Water and the Environment, Department of the Environment.

Faced with this emergency, the national water strategy plans to mobilize an additional 2.5 billion m³ by 2030, combined with the goal of water saving of 2.5 billion m³. Agriculture alone would represent 2 billion m³ of water saving. Irrigation consumes over 80 per cent of the country’s water resources. The efficiency of the irrigation networks varies between 40 and 80 per cent, depending on the irrigation methods and the control of water distribution.

37 Figure 11

Distribution of the water saving objectives

Source: Ministry of Energy, Mines, Water and the Environment, Department of Water.

Consequently, the national programme for water saving in irrigation (PNEEI) is one of the cross-cutting measures of the Green Morocco Plan and is designed to mitigate the effects of the dwindling supply of water resources and to improve the efficiency of their use in irrigation.

Presentation of the national programme for water saving in irrigation (PNEEI)

Concept and objectives

The national programme for water saving in irrigation proposes to roll out localized irrigation systems in almost 550, 000 hectares in 15 years, including:

 Large-scale irrigation areas: 395, 090 hectares of which 218, 000 will be involved in collective conversions. Modernization needs to be speeded up in these irrigation areas.

 Collective irrigation systems to unlock the constraints of water productivity and development.

 Private individual irrigation areas: 160, 000 hectares corresponding to 50 per cent of the area covered by gravity irrigation. In these areas, many financial, incentivizing and institutional mechanisms need to be activated to increase the pace of conversion to localized irrigation.

There are 5 components to the programme:

(1) Collective modernizations of the large-scale irrigation schemes (including upgrading of irrigation networks);

(2) Individual modernizations;

(3) Adding value to agricultural production;

(4) Strengthening technical advice;

(5) Other support measures such as simplifying the procedures for State financial aid grants, organizing the professions operating in the sector, standardization, etc.

38 When the programme has been completed, the area converted to localized irrigation will cover almost 700, 000 hectares, that is to say, approximately 50 per cent of the area equipped for irrigation.

The overall cost of PNEEI is estimated at close to DH 37 billion distributed as follows: DH 30 billion for physical investments and DH 7 billion for supporting institutional measures, capacity-building and other activities.

Expected outcomes

This programme, scheduled to run over the period from 2008 to 2020, relates to the conversion of existing irrigation techniques, very inefficient in terms of water use, to localized irrigation, covering an overall area of approximately 555, 000 hectares, which will eventually facilitate water saving of almost 1.4 billion m³ per annum. State subsidies of up to 100 per cent can be provided for equipment acquisition. This series of initiatives will produce the following outcomes:

 Water saving of between 20 and 50 per cent through the reduction of preventable water losses both in the distribution networks and in the use of water in land parcels, thereby making it possible to reduce the deficits recorded in the large-scale irrigation schemes of almost 700 billion m³ per annum and to reduce the depletion of the water tables by almost 740 million m³ per annum;

 Increase in water productivity from 10 to 100 per cent depending on crops;

 Increase in the valuation of water by almost 114 per cent to eventually achieve some DH 5.12 per m³ at the conclusion of the programme.

Main implementation measures

The implementation of PNEEI is a good example of the participatory approach which consisted of the integration of the farmers in the concrete form of participation by the association of agricultural water users (AUEA). It also called for international financial cooperation and the support of the African Development Bank (AfDB), the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the World Bank.

The chief actors concerned are the Ministry of Agriculture and Maritime Fishing; the regional offices for agricultural extension; the water basin agencies (ABH).

Impacts

Outside of the goals to save and add value to agricultural water, other spinoffs are expected:

 Reduction of the vulnerability of irrigated farming to climate change;

 Significant increase in agricultural income;

 Increased national agricultural production and contribution to restoring balance to the food trade balance;

 Preservation of jobs threatened by dwindling water resources and creation of new jobs.

39 Sustainability and replicability

The due consideration given to the goals of the water strategy in the implementation of the Green Morocco Plan is an example of good governance.

However, the implementation of PNEEI is encountering certain problems which were not previously identified:

(i) Waste in non-recoverable plastic pipes: if the public authorities do not swiftly get to grips with this issue by imposing the use of new materials which can be recovered or else which can be swiftly degraded, their efforts could be overturned by problems of a totally different dimension.

(ii) Structuring of an integrated industrial sector, from production to management of the equipment at the end of its life.

(iii) Increase in energy consumption related to localized irrigation.

Overall, however, this is a good initiative because it contributes to strengthening an inclusive green economy.

5.4 Case No. 4: General rural electrification programme (PERG)