King Mohammed chairs 9th session of supreme water and climate council
Morocco, Economics, 6/22/2001

Morocco's King Mohammed VI, who was accompanied by prince Moulay Rachid, chaired in the southern Atlantic city of Agadir on Thursday the opening of the 9th session of the supreme water and climate council.

In an opening address, the king stressed the need for a sound management of water demand and for rational consumption.

"Time has come for us to radically change our perception of and attitude regarding water, through the management of the demand of this resource and the rationalization of its consumption" said King Mohammed VI.

"It is necessary to carry on the ongoing efforts to mobilize all water resources liable to be mobilized. At the same time, we must go further in setting up water storing facilities and securing, out of inter-regional solidarity concern, the transfer of water from areas enjoying a water surplus to areas suffering from water shortage," he further told participants.

The council's 9th session to wind up Friday debates water scarcity management and meteorology strategy and national concerns.

The session is also discussing the blueprints on water in the regions of Souss-Massa in the south and of Tensift (Marrakesh region). The blueprints seek to meet the needs of the two regions -that cover 25,000 square Km each-up to year 2020, identify means of water resources harnessing (kinds of dams to be built, water treatment modalities and surface areas to be irrigated, drinking water needs.).

The 9th session is the first to be held after the Moroccan parliament adopted in 1995 a law on water, setting up the legal implements for a rational management and a better exploitation of water resources.

The council set up in 1981 is placed under the aegis of the King. It seeks to involve elected representatives, socio-professional organizations, administrations and public sectors in defining water-related orientations and in decision-making on the country's water policy.

Here follows the full text of the address delivered by the king:

"Ladies and Gentlemen,

We were keen on chairing the opening of the proceedings of the Supreme Water and Climate Council, since we thoroughly grasp the outstanding importance of water, which we consider as one of the elements of national sovereignty, and since we are so deeply convinced of the virtue of the constructive dialogue going on in the relevant bodies on all outstanding national issues.

If our country harbors, thanks God, abundant natural resources, it is also the will of God that we undergo the hardship of drought. The pernicious effects of this phenomenon on our economy and on the balance of our ecosystem could have been more serious, had it not been for the wise water policy, initiated by our venerated father, may God rest his soul in peace, a policy that prompted the World Water Council to name after Hassan II the most prestigious international prize consecrating the world best work in the field of hydraulics.

While Morocco has so far succeeded in meeting increasing water demand, through an enhanced mobilization of water resources, securing drinking water supply to cities and providing water to irrigate one million hectares, the balance between offer and demand has become precarious and fragile, under the combined effects of various constraints.

Time has therefore come for us to radically change our perception of and attitude regarding water, through the management of the demand of this resource and the rationalization of its consumption. It is necessary to carry on the ongoing efforts to mobilize all water resources liable to be mobilized. At the same time, we must go further in setting up water storing facilities and securing, out of inter-regional solidarity concern, the transfer of water from areas enjoying a water surplus to areas suffering from water shortage.

In a bid to alleviate the investments load, it has become necessary to seek new formulas for the financing and management of water works. Likewise, we should reconsider our choices and options concerning farming production systems, while taking into account-for this issue that we deem of top priority-the factor of water scarcity and of the real production cost in our country.

In view of delays recorded in waste water treatment, it is necessary to ponder on practical formulas that are likely to help shield water resources against pollution. Similarly, it is imperative to grant more attention to the rural world water supply program so that our countryside accesses the development we are longing for.

Whether in cities or countryside, we urge all actors of the water sector and more especially l'Office National de l'Eau Potable (national water utility) to spare no effort to supply drinking water to all human settlements of our Kingdom, while duly taking into account the requirement of quality and hygiene, and the imperative of fair distribution and acting solidarity.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Cyclical droughts that hit our country over the past twenty years resulted, among other effects, in an increase of the indebtedness of farmers. A large number of these farmers could not possibly pay back the debts owed to the Caisse Nationale de Cr?dit Agricole. To remedy the situation, we issued our high instructions to our government to reschedule the farmers' debts over 15 to 20 years and to grant small farmers a partial exemption that can reach up to 40 percent, while taking into account the natural characteristics of regions, in this operation that is to benefit some 120,000 farmers.

Through these efforts, we want to support our faithful farmers, while enabling the Cr?dit Agricole institution to carry on its activities in a sound financial situation and in an adapted, transparent institutional frame, based on the reform of its structures, in line with a new law that is currently tabled before the Parliament. We renew our resolve to continue seeing to it that the financing of small farmers' activity remains easily accessible through a convention between le Cr?dit Agricole and the State.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We pin great hope that your Council, which is convening for the first time in the frame of the Law on Water, would come out with general orientations for a national water policy. We also urge our government to diligently take the necessary measures to fully implement provisions of this law and to craft a rigorous work methodology likely to enable your council permanently affirm its presence in all water policy-associated fields. Our desire is that this Council will constitute the appropriate platform to discuss and debate this policy.

Actually, the water management problematic is so complex and has so many ramifications that it cannot be addressed from a purely technical standpoint, nor can it be settled through partial or isolated arrangements. It implies the adoption of a comprehensive, wise and perspicacious approach. It requires a constant quest of balance, excluding excess in the offer of available resources while maintaining demand within reasonable limits.

Therefore, we are expecting you to give a concrete illustration of this drive during your coming council and more precisely during the discussion of the national water resources development plan that is being drafted. Our wish is that this plan sets a national strategy likely to ensure water resources promotion by 2030 and helps make the adequate political decision on the basis of a rational distribution of this wealth, discarding the risks of disputes, monopoly and squandering.

We are confident that you duly appreciate the responsibility you are shouldering and that you are prompted by sincere desire to trade your respective experience and know-how to jointly conduct an action likely to guarantee to our dear homeland water security, both at present and in the future.

May god assist you and guide you on the right path.

May peace and blessings of God be upon you."

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