As Morocco grapples with its seventh consecutive year of drought, local and international partners are turning to circular economy principles to build water resilience in cities, The Water Diplomat reported.
At Stockholm Water Week 2025, the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), along with Moroccan officials and academic partners, presented the “Morocco Urban Circular Water Resilience Initiative.” Supported by Germany’s Federal Ministry and GIZ, the project highlights pioneering approaches in Marrakech, Safi, and Kenitra.
Morocco’s per capita water availability has dropped to just 606 cubic meters annually, a figure well below the UN’s water scarcity threshold. Urbanisation now exceeds 72%, with heavy pressure on coastal resources. “Water stress is a reality in Morocco,” Badria Benjelloun, director of Urban Planning has said, pointing out threats from over-exploited water resources, pollution, and climate extremes.
The government is responding with large-scale investments including 17 major dams and 146 smaller ones are under construction, along with 16 desalination projects and 197 wastewater treatment plants.
By 2027, Morocco aims to reuse 5 million cubic meters of treated wastewater and desalinate 1.7 million cubic meters annually, supported by the flagship “water highway” project to transfer resources from the north to the arid south.
Deputy Mayor of Marrakech Khadija Bouhrachi has explained how the city is drawing on traditional metaphors to preserve water. Ancient underground water canals, or khattarates, are being preserved as cultural assets while modern systems push for efficiency.
Since 2010, treated wastewater has irrigated golf courses, palm groves, and city parks, with new initiatives to supply industries. An audit of public buildings would cut municipal water use by 45% through efficiency upgrades and drip irrigation.
In Safi, the phosphate giant OCP is spearheading industrial-scale circularity through its OCP Green Water program. “We are committed to ensuring all our water needs come from non-conventional sources,” Project Manager Imane Naddi has said. The USD 4.4 billion plan is intended to deliver 560 million cubic meters of desalinated water and 50 million cubic meters of treated wastewater by 2030, supplying agriculture and industry across the country.
At Kenitra’s Ibn Tofail University, a pilot project treats and reuses 400 cubic meters of wastewater daily with advanced membrane filtration. The system channels purify water directly to plant roots through buried porous tubes, achieving efficiency levels higher than conventional drip irrigation.
“Nothing is lost, nothing is wasted, everything is transformed,” Project Manager Sakina Belhamidi has stated, noting the model is already being replicated in parts of Rabat, Marrakech, and rural villages.
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