Water governance in Morocco

Water governance for development in Morocco. The implementation of IWRM (Integrated Water Resources Management) as a modality for public action

Water is a key natural resource at the heart of any community's development. Managing water to ensure that everyone has access to it is not just a question of money, technology or the environment, it's also a matter of good governance.

Morocco has a legal and institutional framework for this vital sector, and has undertaken major reforms to better manage its water resources and ensure their equitable distribution, including to the most vulnerable populations. However, with increasing pressure on water resources and the visible effects of climate change, it is becoming imperative to rethink the way we govern this essential resource.

Internationally, climate change threatens to slow economies, make food security even more precarious and increase inequalities. So Morocco, like so many other countries, urgently needs to adapt its water management. This means integrating solutions that not only reduce risks and aim to protect and restore water-related ecosystems, but also anticipate and adapt to inevitable changes.

Despite our best efforts, water management remains too often fragmented. Yet water cannot be reduced to a simple sectoral issue; it affects all aspects of life. To truly understand the challenges of water, we need an overall vision that embraces not only the economy, but also sustainable development and collective well-being.

This is where Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) comes in. This approach seeks to build bridges between the various players concerned by water: political authorities, farmers, citizens and businesses. It does not simply manage water in the short term, but also takes future needs into account. IWRM promotes balanced, efficient management that takes into account economic, social and cultural interests. What sets it apart is its flexibility and openness to consultation, far removed from top-down management methods that too often exclude local communities.

It's also important to remember that water management is rooted at the local level: watersheds. The challenge is to coordinate all these actions, at national and local level, and to connect the various players, both public and private. This is a major challenge, as water affects sectors as varied as health, agriculture, energy and, of course, the fight against poverty. It is a resource that interacts with almost every sector of state action.

Ultimately, it is essential to better understand and reorganize the governance of Morocco's water sector. This requires a comprehensive analysis of all its components: regulation, organization, distribution, financing, pricing and protection against pollution. Each aspect has its own importance in ensuring sustainable and efficient management, all the more so as territorial inequalities in access to water are likely to worsen with climate change.

This leads us to examine the renewal of water governance in Morocco by studying the process of implementing Integrated Resource Management, both as a paradigm for analysis and as a

mode of action, adopted by public authorities to establish water as an efficient public policy serving the country's sustainable development.

Governance - water - integrated management - public policy - regulation - challenges - sustainable development - resource - protection - efficiency - distribution - poverty alleviation - climate change - resilience - accessibility - consultation - risk

The candidate must hold a Master's degree in political science or law, and have a good knowledge of the theoretical and conceptual frameworks of these disciplines

November 19, 2024

Please send your application to : Cedoc.admission@ueuromed.org & s.kasmi@ueuromed.org

Prof. Sanae KASMI