Building water management with local stakeholders

The hydro-agricultural development project of the Saïss plain is based on a simple idea: water cannot be managed sustainably without those who use it and depend on it every day. Hence the importance of a participatory approach and a collective framework to organize the use of the resource. This is where the aquifer contract comes into play.

Why a participatory approach?

Because water in the Saïss is not an isolated technical issue. It concerns farmers, municipalities, institutions, domestic users and economic stakeholders. It also concerns territories that have experienced drought, repeated drilling, the gradual decline in water levels and the concerns that come with it.
The project therefore chooses not to simply impose a “solution”. It seeks to involve local stakeholders, to explain, to exchange and to listen.

The objective is twofold:

• to improve understanding and support for the project,
• to encourage ownership of the new water management systems, in order to avoid a return to practices that have weakened the aquifer.

This participation takes the form of information meetings, exchanges with professional organizations, consultations with local authorities and mechanisms that make it possible to bring field concerns to the surface.

The aquifer contract: a collective framework to protect the resource

The Fès–Meknès aquifer was for a long time the main source of irrigation water in the plain. It sustained agricultural activity for years, but at the cost of a significant deficit and continuous decline.
The aquifer contract responds to this situation. It is not a simple administrative document. It is a shared commitment between the main stakeholders: the State and its water institutions, local authorities, farmers, professional organizations, and local territorial actors.

This contract pursues several concrete objectives:

• to gradually reduce withdrawals from the aquifer,
• to organize the transition toward the use of surface water supplied by the dam and the new network,
• to establish clear and shared rules regarding access to and use of the resource,
• to promote sustainable and equitable management between the different users.

It is therefore a governance tool. A common framework that defines the responsibilities of each stakeholder and makes it possible to take action over the long term.

How does this mechanism support the project?

The aquifer contract and the participatory approach are closely linked to the Saïss project:

• they facilitate the transition from the former system based on individual pumping to the new structured irrigation system;
• they make it possible to support farmers in the gradual adaptation of their practices;
• they help establish a clearer and more responsible relationship with water.

In other words: the infrastructure provides the technical solution, while the aquifer contract and participation provide the collective solution.

A commitment for today and for tomorrow

The challenge is not only to ensure the successful implementation of the project. The challenge is to preserve sustainably a strategic resource for the region and for future generations. This requires more coordinated, more responsible, and shared management between those who decide and those who use the resource.
By involving local stakeholders and structuring the rules for aquifer use, the participatory approach and the aquifer contract give the project an essential dimension: that of water management built with the territory, and not only for it.