Japan gives Morocco grant for flood alert and forecast system

The Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has donated Morocco a 60 million-yen grant to finance the first stage of a pilot project to set up a floods alert and forecast system in the Atlas mountainous region.

JICA representatives said the project first stage consists in fitting out ultra-sonic gauges and/or automatic rain measuring devices in 5 flood observation stations, an alarm post with a radio-telephone and broadcasting equipment in the regional office of the hydraulic department in addition to personal computers for data processing.

The personal computers transform hydrological data into easy to understand charts.

The project is part of a broader technical cooperation program launched by the Japanese agency in 2000, to formulate floods alert and forecast systems for six basins and over 3,500 square km located on the west bank of the Tensift river.