Oum Er-Rbia basin: dam reserves near 3 billion m3 after a year of decline
Oum Er-Rbia basin dams are 58.92% full with 2.95 billion m3 stored, up from 9.51% a year ago, according to the Ministry of Equipment and Water.
Photo: Ministry of Equipment and Water
Dams in the Oum Er-Rbia basin held about 2.95 billion cubic metres of water on Tuesday, October 27, a filling rate of 58.92 percent. The figures come from the “Al Ma Dialna” platform run by the Ministry of Equipment and Water.
A year earlier, the same basin stood at just 9.51 percent, a sharp turnaround for one of the Kingdom’s main water basins after a long stretch of shrinking stocks.
Al Massira at 40.72 percent
Al Massira, the largest dam in the basin by storage capacity, sits on the Oum Er-Rbia river between the provinces of Settat and Rehamna. With a capacity of about 2.65 billion cubic metres, it was 40.72 percent full, holding roughly 1.08 billion cubic metres.
The reservoir remains central to the basin’s water system, supplying both households and farmland.
Atlas dams well above half
In Azilal province, the Bin El Ouidane dam on Oued El Abid, a tributary of the Oum Er-Rbia, recorded inflows of 727 million cubic metres, compared with 101 million cubic metres last year, an increase of 80.61 percent according to the ministry’s data. The structure ranks among the largest in Morocco and serves irrigation and hydroelectric power generation.
Further along the Oum Er-Rbia, in Beni Mellal province, the Ahmed El Hansali dam reached a filling rate of 78.79 percent. Its inflows were put at about 727 million cubic metres, against 119 million cubic metres over the same period last year.
The Hassan I dam, on Oued Lakhdar in Azilal province, was 80.68 percent full. The Moulay Youssef dam, built on Oued Tessaout, a tributary that descends from the High Atlas, stood at 75.35 percent.
Sidi Driss full
Among the basin’s smaller structures, which help regulate river flow, the Sidi Driss dam was at full capacity, with a filling rate of 100 percent. The Sidi Said Maachou dam was 90.59 percent full.
Inflows into these reservoirs remain closely tied to drinking water supply and irrigation across the basin, whose dams feed both domestic and agricultural use.
