Morocco is investing billions…
To secure its water future.
But according to the World Bank, desalination alone won’t be enough to prevent a long-term water crisis. The institution says the country needs a broader strategy combining desalination, wastewater reuse and major reductions in water losses across distribution networks.
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Desalination remains a key pillar of Morocco’s water strategy.
The Kingdom plans to increase its desalination capacity dramatically by 2030, helping provide drinking water for millions of people as climate change and repeated droughts continue to strain traditional water resources.
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However, the World Bank warns that producing more water isn’t enough if large amounts are still being lost.
A significant share of treated water never reaches consumers because of leaking pipelines, aging infrastructure and inefficient distribution systems.
Reducing these losses could save millions of cubic meters of water every year.
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Another priority is reusing treated wastewater.
Instead of discharging it, treated water can irrigate farms, parks and industrial sites, preserving precious freshwater for households.
The World Bank sees wastewater reuse as a strategic resource that should become a much larger part of Morocco’s national water policy.
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The warning comes as Morocco faces growing water stress.
According to the World Bank, renewable water availability has fallen dramatically over the past decades and could drop below the 500 cubic meters per person per year threshold by the end of the decade—a level considered absolute water scarcity.
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For the World Bank, the solution isn’t choosing one technology over another.
It’s combining desalination, water recycling, network modernization, and better water management to build a resilient system capable of withstanding future droughts and climate change.
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The message is clear: producing more water is only part of the answer. Morocco’s long-term water security will depend just as much on saving every drop it already has.
