The Moroccan authorities quickly acted. The Minister of the Interior, Abdelouafi Laftit, wrote to local officials in the provinces, directors of hydrological basin agencies, and the regional and provincial directors of the supply and water sector, in order to urge them to take the necessary measures to ensure the safety of wells and water holes.
The Moroccan Interior Minister’s move aims to curb the spread of wells and holes that are not equipped with the necessary safety means, and to educate citizens about the dangers arising from them.
The Moroccan Ministry of Interior sent a similar memorandum to the heads of provinces, regions and municipal councils, in order to call on them to activate Law 36-15, related to water and regulatory texts.
She called on officials to launch awareness campaigns to protect water resources and rationalize water consumption, in view of the scarcity of rain and the pressure it causes on water basins.
obstacle in law
Moulay Hafid El Fadel, a consultant and expert in local development, told Sky News Arabia that wells are subject to the water law and the collective system, as the municipality is obligated to monitor water wells, take samples and monitor them for a period of three months.
Al-Fadil stresses that drilling wells always passes through municipalities or what is known as local communities in Morocco, but he believes that the obstacle is found in the law, because the person concerned who drilled the well must return the situation to what it was and close the well, but this does not happen on land Indeed”.
The development advisor mentioned the Water Police, whose duty is to monitor wells, water holes, farmland and agricultural lands.
Regarding the memorandum of the Minister of Interior, Al-Fadhel says that it discussed a set of measures; Among them is the rationalization of irrigation and water in order to maintain green areas, by preventing municipalities from relying on tanker trucks for irrigation.
The expert in local development points out that the Water Basin Agency has a map of wells, but the problem lies in coordination between the water police on the one hand, and the municipalities to which a message must be sent in order to perform their duty in the best way, on the other hand.
Application problem
As for M’hamed Khafu, a university professor at the High School of Technology in Khenifra and an expert in the water mattress, he told “Sky News Arabia” that if an animal falls into the well, this affects the health of the residents who drink from the well’s water and the quality of the water, in addition to Cleaning and drying the well of stones and impurities costs its owner significant sums of money.
The water litter expert points out that the Water Law speaks of the existence of a water litter contract that is made between the Water Basin Agency and regional and governorate officials in managing water, which prevents drilling wells near lakes and springs and does not exceed the permissible limit so as not to dry out.
In the opinion of the university professor, the problem lies in the application of the law related to water and the regulatory texts, and this is why the periodical of the Ministry of Interior calls for the activation and application of the law.
Khafu added, “We have the water police, but there is a problem with monitoring and tracking. For example, within the framework of the Green Morocco program, it is necessary to know the number of licenses granted to dig wells, and then the number of wells that were drilled without obtaining a license from the concerned authorities.”
To solve this dilemma, the speaker stresses the need to develop a strategy to legalize agricultural production and consolidate a culture of water conservation.
He stressed the need to compare this production with the population growth and the population’s requirements for the amount of water used in daily life, in order to preserve the water table.
On the other hand, he clarifies that decision-makers must have a remote view to monitor the exploitation of underground resources, citing the policy of the late King Hassan II in adopting the policy of dams in order to benefit from surface water and strengthen the water bed.
Urgent Actions
Among the urgent and precautionary measures and measures determined by the periodical is the creation of a regional committee at the level of each region in order to work on an inventory of all completed wells and water holes, according to a special program of field visits that includes all groups in the territorial area of employment or the region.
The implementation of the program is ensured by local committees composed of representatives of the regional committee, and the inventory includes the full identity of the owner of the well or the hole or its operator; Whether it is a personal or legal person.
With regard to untapped or non-exploitable water wells and holes, especially abandoned ones, the periodical says that the Water Basin Agency sends a notification to the owner of the well or water hole or its exploiter, or his representative, through the local administrative authority, with notification of receipt of all available means. He intended to bury it and fill it, within a maximum period of seven days, starting from the date of his receipt by correspondence from the Water Basin Agency.
The patrol cautioned that in the event of non-compliance with the aforementioned alerts, the minutes of inspection of violations must be drawn up for drilling wells and completing holes, in accordance with the requirements of Law No. 36-15 related to water and related regulatory texts.