The Al Massira Dam, positioned roughly midway between Casablanca and Marrakesh, currently holds a mere 3% of its historical water volume from nine years ago, recent data reveals.
Persistent drought spanning six consecutive years, coupled with the impact of climate change driving soaring temperatures and increased evaporation rates, has precipitated a crisis in water resources nationwide, significantly impacting agriculture and the economy at large. The satellite images documenting this phenomenon illustrate a stark metamorphosis in the landscape, with typically verdant areas now desiccated and beige.
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Hydrogeologist Professor Brian Thomas, scrutinizing the satellite imagery for NASA, notes a notable reduction in the reservoir’s surface area, along with alterations in the appearance of the water, indicating shifts in land usage and changes in the river’s flow feeding into the reservoir.
The ramifications of the drought extend far beyond the vicinity of Al Massira, enveloping the entire nation. Agriculture, a sector consuming nearly 90% of Morocco’s water resources according to World Bank statistics from 2020, has borne the brunt of the crisis. Abdelmajid El Wardi, a farmer cultivating cotton, wheat, and tending to sheep and goats near the capital Rabat, laments a succession of unproductive years.
“This year marks the most severe drought we’ve ever encountered,” Wardi states, recounting losses due to stillbirths among his livestock, exacerbated by dwindling water and forage resources during the drought. Even local groundwater-fed wells, once reliable, now offer scant relief.
A brief journey to a nearby valley unveils the broader impact as a visibly diminished river, depleted by the drought, comes into view. Wardi estimates that just 30% of another reservoir, situated upstream behind the Sidi Mohammed bin Abdullah dam, remains viable.
Forced to sell off livestock and resort to agricultural loans to sustain his family, Wardi acknowledges some governmental assistance but deems it insufficient in the face of such adversity.