In Morocco, the project to connect the Sebou basin to the Bouregreg basin at the Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdallah dam is nearing completion after around nine months' work. This connection will secure the water supply to the Rabat-Casablanca axis.
People living on the Rabat-Casablanca axis in Morocco will see their water supply strengthened over the coming months. This follows the arrival of the first cubic metres of water from the Sebou basin in the Bouregreg basin. According to Aujourd’hui le Maroc, the current pumping rate of water from the Sebou is 3 m3 per second, and will gradually increase to 15 m3 per second over the coming weeks. This will make it possible to transfer an annual volume of surplus water from the Sebou basin of between 350 and 400 million m3.
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The Sebou water is pumped from an intake at the Oued dam to two new pumping stations, each with a capacity of 15 m3 per second, and then conveyed to the Bouregreg basin via a 67 km steel transport network with a diameter of 3,200 mm.
An investment of €545 million
The consortium of national companies formed by Société générale des travaux du Maroc (SGTM), Sociétés maghrébines de génie civil (SOMAGEC) and STAM-SNCE (Société de travaux agricoles marocains – Société des nouvelles conduites d’eau), completed the work on the project to connect the Sebou basin from the reservoir to the Bouregreg basin in almost nine months, in accordance with the royal directives contained in the royal speech of 14 October 2022. The Moroccan consortium benefited from the support of Conseil Ingénierie et Développement (CID) and of the Laboratoire public d’essais et d’études (LPEE).
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The work required an investment of 6 billion Moroccan dirhams (over €545 million). In addition to improving water supply in the Rabat and Casablanca regions, connecting the Sebou basin to the Bouregreg basin will reduce pressure on the Massira dam, whose level has fallen drastically due to water stress.
The Al Massira dam, the second largest dam in Morocco, which will also benefit from the hydraulic project, has reached its lowest level with a filling rate of barely 2.6%. Reserves at the Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah dam are just 15.2%.
Inès Magoum
