Morocco's dams start August with stable water reserves despite summer heat

Moroccan dams have entered August with a stable water reserve, maintaining an overall filling rate of 70.08%. This translates to approximately 11.93 billion cubic meters of water, a substantial increase compared to the 35.53% recorded at the beginning of August last year. The Ministry of Equipment and Water's Directorate of Water Research and Planning reported these figures.

Despite the gradual decline observed since mid-spring due to summer evaporation and consumption, the current water volume is far from the low levels of the previous summer. Over the past six weeks, national dams have lost about 4.2 percentage points, equivalent to roughly 710 million cubic meters. However, the rate of this decline is less pronounced than last year, suggesting a more balanced management of current reserves.

The data reveals a "calm and controlled" downward trend after reaching a peak of around 76% in early May. By the end of June, the filling rate was 74.33%, and it has since gradually decreased to the current 70.08% by early August. This year's relative loss of about 6% during the summer period is notably less than last year's nearly 8% loss between late June and early August.

Geographically, there is a significant disparity in water levels across different basins. Four basins are leading with over 80% filling rates: Ttansift (85.48%), Loukkos (83.45%), Sebou (83.19%), and Bou Regreg (82.42%). The Oum Er-Rbia basin has shown remarkable recovery, reaching 61.71% compared to just 10.74% last year, while the Moulouya basin stands at 57.62%. Conversely, southern and southeastern basins, such as Souss-Massa (50.37%) and Draa-Oued Noun (33.88%), remain the most vulnerable to structural water stress. The Ziz-Gheris-Guir basin also saw a decrease to 42.55% from 49.59% last summer.