Prayers for rain, “Salat Al Istisqâa”, have been heard in Morocco. King Mohammed VI, “commander of the believers”has been ordering for years to carry out “rogatory prayers” on Friday in all the mosques of the kingdom. Here it is granted, a little too much no doubt, because it is a real deluge that has fallen in recent days on the Kingdom, hit hard by climate change. Because if the downpour has remained beneficial with regard to the filling of certain dams and water tables, the authorities have sounded the alarm on its devastating aspect. In the desert, the dried-up rivers have turned into large muddy streams, carrying with them what they find in their path.
On Sunday, September 22, the weather forecast still announced an orange alert level, with new showers in the center of the country. The day before, the authorities deplored a devastating toll in the southeast. In the province of Tata, homes were destroyed, two passengers of a bus swept away by the waters died, and 14 people are missing. Two weeks ago, in this desert area of the country, torrential rains had already caused the death of at least 18 people.
Drops of Power
The link between weather conditions and the exercise of power in Morocco has been expressed at least since the colonial period, during which a keen interest in hydraulic projects was born. In 2013, during a trip to Casablanca, President François Hollande took up a witticism attributed to Théodore Steeg, Resident General of Morocco between 1925 and 1929: “to govern is to rain”. An echo of the maxim “to govern is to foresee”, attributed to the man Adolphe Thiers. King Hassan II also understood very well the challenge of dealing with the elements, he who inaugurated a dam per year until the end of his reign in 1999. His heir continued this effort, bringing the number of dams to 148. These infrastructures are vital: agriculture still employs 39% of the working population today and consumes 88% of water resources.
These reservoirs still need to be filled with water, while the drought has persisted for the last six years. The violent storms will have at least contributed to this. On Monday, September 23, the Ministry of Equipment and Water indicated an overall filling rate of 29% (4,862 million cubic meters), three points more than last year, which suggests a slight improvement to the agricultural world. Nevertheless, the soil impermeable by the drought would need much more regular rains, so that the water can effectively infiltrate into the water table.
Infrastructure to be reviewed
The floods have left their mark on destruction. In total, 44 road sections saw their traffic interrupted, before their gradual restoration during the weekend. Morocco has announced a 40 million dirham (3.7 million euros) plan to repair the damage in the southeast of the country. In an interview with the news site Hespress, Mohammed Benata of the Ecological Collective of Northern Morocco, warns against the “deep weaknesses in infrastructure”unable to withstand natural phenomena of such violence. He points to the inadequacy of the sanitation system, as well as the great vulnerability of bridges and roads. Judging that“It is better to let nature take its course without interfering with technologies”this activist warns against the temptation to rely on the Al Ghaith program imagined in 1984 under Hassan II, which consists of pollinating clouds using mineral salts, in order to obtain artificial rain. A technique with marginal results given the enormous needs.
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