Morocco is entering the 2026-2027 agricultural season with more than 11.355 billion cubic meters of water stored in its dams, a fill rate of 66.69%. A source at the Ministry of Agriculture, quoted by Hespress and TelQuel, said the level is the highest in nearly a decade and should ease pressure on farmers after several years of water stress.
Irrigation is set to return
Irrigation is due to resume gradually in several major basins, notably Doukkala, Haouz and Tadla, where restrictions had disrupted farming. According to the same source, these districts could return to the pace they had in 2017 and 2018, before measures limiting water use for crop irrigation were adopted.
Desalination takes some pressure off
Desalination projects are also part of the picture. The pipelines that will bring drinking water to Marrakech from the Jorf Lasfar plant have been completed, which should reduce competition between drinking water and irrigation. The source added that current reserves could cover demand for three years if rainfall is average.
A big change in a year
The improvement is clear in the daily figures published by the Ministry of Equipment and Water. On July 26, the overall fill rate of the main dams stood at 70.74%, against 36.09% a year earlier. The Loukkos basin led with 84.22%, followed by the Sebou basin at 83.89%, where the Al Wahda dam, Morocco’s largest, held more than 3 billion cubic meters and was 87.42% full.
Differences between regions remain
The national average hides gaps. In July the Draa-Oued Noun basin had the lowest fill rate, at 35.74%, a reminder that water availability still varies widely across the country even after a very rainy season. Water remains a key issue for farming, drinking supply and energy, and the coming rainy months will show whether the recovery can last.
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