Drought: water savings in Morocco and Spain

In Morocco, drought has become chronic. The country has been under water stress for several years. In Spain, Catalonia is one of the regions most affected by drought. Chnone tries to adapt.

In Morocco, the dams had to be urgently interconnected and the search for leaks in the drinking water network intensified. Attention is also and above all focused on agriculture, which consumes 87% of the country’s water. Farmers are subsidized to switch to micro irrigation. Currently thedrip irrigates 7% of agricultural land, i.e. twice the world average. The seeds have also changed. Entire orchards have been uprooted in recent years to be replaced by more resistant plants. To increase water resources, Morocco is also relying on technology, in particular with the Al Ghait cloud seeding program. Launched in the 1980s, itis enriched in 2017-2018 with two satellites to better target the clouds to be rained. Some 11 billion euros have been released to provide the country with 20 desalination plants as soon as possible. A priority file because half of thedesalinated seawater should be used to supply Moroccan households with drinking water.

The objective of doubling the volumes of recycled water in Barcelona

In Catalonia, water reserves are at 25% of their capacity against 50% usual. In Barcelona, ​​the town hall no longer waters the lawns, water restrictions are put in place for agriculture and businesses. In addition, the region is launching longer-term projects to increase its production capacity. Thus, the water of the Besos, the river that runs along Barcelona, ​​polluted by industries for 60 years will soon be made drinkable. A factory is under construction. The objective is to double the volumes of recycled water within five years. Today in the region, 10% of wastewater is reused. This is also the case in the rest of Spain. In France it is only 1%.