Sustained efforts by the water police to monitor water resources

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The Draa-Oued Noun hydraulic basin agency is intensifying water police patrols in the Guelmim-Oued Noun region, to control the exploitation of water resources and the use of the public water domain.

The agency’s area of ​​intervention includes the four provinces of the Guelmim-Oued Noun region (Guelmim, Sidi Ifni, Assa Zag and Tan-Tan), the three provinces of the Draa-Tafilalet region (Ouarzazate, Zagora, Tinghir) and the province of Tata, in the Souss-Massa region.

Thus, the Draa-Oued Noun hydraulic basin agency, headquartered in Guelmim, has taken a series of measures to mobilize and rationalize the use of water resources in the region, notably through the construction of large and small dams, the construction of boreholes for the supply of drinking water, the prevention of illegal use of water from wells and boreholes, as well as the preparation of studies for the reuse of water.

The Agency also strengthened water police patrols in accordance with Law 15-36 relating to water, which aims to establish water control and planning mechanisms, with a view to preserving and increase national reserves of this vital material.

The director of the Draa-Oued Noun Hydraulic Basin Agency, Youssef Ben Hamou, declared to MAP that in view of the “worrying” water situation experienced by the Guelmim-Oued Noun region and the increasing pressure on the water resources due to successive years of drought, the agency has taken a series of concrete measures aimed at rationalizing the use of water and preserving this vital wealth, in particular the construction of the large Fask dam in Guelmim and small dams hills, planned for the Assif Ouender dam project in Sidi Ifni as part of the national program for the supply of drinking water and irrigation water 2020-2027.

Among these measures, adds Mr. Ben Hamou, is also the supply of drinking water to towns in the region through the drilling of boreholes to meet the needs of the population, in addition to the carrying out of studies relating to the reuse of water. wastewater from the main towns in the region (Guelmim, Assa, Tan-Tan, Sidi Ifni) for watering green spaces and green belts around these towns.

According to this official, the agency has intensified water police patrols which play a major role in preserving the public water domain at the basin level, through the control of water resources and the protection of the groundwater against excessive exploitation.

The head of the legal affairs and litigation department at the Draa-Oued Noun hydraulic basin agency, Hussein Addi affirmed that the water police patrols are part of the regular actions carried out by the agency. for the control of groundwater and surface water relating to the public water domain, with a view to dealing with water shortage and water stress.

Mr. Adi, who is responsible for the water police, added that the provisions of the Water Law No. 36.15 grant water police officers a set of powers, including access to water installations, their control, the fight against excessive exploitation of water resources, the repression of contraventions, the drawing up of reports and their transmission to the public prosecutor.

According to data from the Draa-Oued Noun Hydraulic Basin Agency, the water police recorded, during the year 2023, 15 offenses relating to the public water domain in the Guelmim region. Oued Noun, including 5 offenses in Guelmim, 5 in Sidi Ifni, 3 in Tan-Tan and 2 in Assa Zag.

These offenses concern in particular the drilling of wells without a permit, the illegal exploitation of the public water domain and the extraction of construction materials.

With MAP