Context
Morocco has a long history of participatory water management, mainly characterized by the evolution of management approaches: from traditional and community-based management to state-led management and finally to participatory management. Legislative and regulatory tools have adapted to this evolution, promoting the reintegration of communities into resource management through a collaborative approach with public authorities. In 2015, the new water law formally established the regulatory framework for user involvement and effective participation in water management through the development of the Participatory Management Contract (CGP).
75 representatives of public institutions, civil society and user associations involved
30 months and a dozen participatory workshops at national and local level
Production of guidelines, a provisional decree and a draft participative management contract
Our mission
As part of a cooperation programme between Morocco, Germany and Switzerland entitled “Support for Integrated Water Resources Management – AGIRE”, Lisode was commissioned between January 2018 and June 2020 to give concrete form to the directives of the Water Act through two complementary approaches: a nationwide consultation process and field experimentation in three territories.
At national level, a cross-sector think tank led by the Directorate of Water Research and Planning has been set up to provide strategic recommendations on participatory water management in Morocco. Comprising 35 profiles from public institutions and civil society, the group has met on several occasions to look in greater depth at the issue of user involvement in water resource management.
On a local scale, three pilot sites were also used to test the usefulness and limitations of participatory and contractual water management: the Souss plain, the N’Fis large-scale hydraulic system and the Central Bahira area. The validity of the concept was tested in each area, which has its own specificities in terms of water use, collective organisation of users and distinct human activities.
Impact and results
The support provided to national and local stakeholders made it possible to clarify the Moroccan regulatory framework for the participatory management contract (CGP) and to put forward proposals on the process to be followed to develop and implement this type of mechanism. The results were set out in guidelines that are now a reference document on participatory and contractual water management in Morocco, both in theory and in practice. In addition, a draft decree setting out the conditions and procedures for setting up a CGP was drawn up by the national focus group and submitted to the relevant ministries for approval. In one of the territories, a CGP project was developed through a consultation process involving water user associations and public administrations.
