Morocco subsidised drip irrigation as aquifers fell, and desalination followed
Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.
Morocco subsidised drip irrigation and built a 4.41 billion dirham desalination plant at Chtouka, while aquifers in Berrechid and Chtouka show annual deficits; at stake is groundwater. A desalination tender won by a consortium linked to a family-owned group drew a political complaint, and the sources reviewed record no penalty.
- Akwa group, Afriquia Gaz and Acciona consortium — Won the Casablanca desalination tender, according to TelQuel TelQuel
- Irrigation equipment and desalination contractors — Listed as benefiting from the subsidies and the plant
- Households and aquifers — Listed as harmed by aquifer depletion, with annual deficits recorded
What happened
According to the sources reviewed, Morocco subsidised drip irrigation, in some cases up to the full amount, and the cultivated area and pumping expanded.
The case table records annual deficits of 36.7 million cubic metres in Berrechid and 90 million cubic metres in Chtouka.
A desalination plant at Chtouka cost 4.41 billion dirhams, and the sources reviewed list taxpayers as paying for it.
TelQuel reported a political complaint by the PJD party over a conflict of interest after a Casablanca desalination tender was awarded to a consortium that includes Afriquia Gaz, part of the family-owned Akwa group.
In court and with insurers
Lawsuits and rulings
Insurers
What we don't know
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
Record
- None on record The sources reviewed do not say whether the Casablanca tender and the Chtouka plant are the same facility.
- Disputed The PJD complaint is political; no ruling on the conflict-of-interest claim is recorded in the sources reviewed.
- None on record The case table records no penalty, and no source is given for that entry.
- None on record The registered-links list for Morocco is empty in the sources reviewed.
- None on record The sources reviewed do not name the subsidy programme or give its amounts.
Did the harm stop?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Who paid?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Sources
Press and investigations
- TelQuel report on conflict-of-interest claims over a desalination tenderTelQuel · 2023-12-07
Connected cases
- Morocco says it cut cadmium in phosphate fertilisers; EU cannot verify the claim Morocco · 2025
- Government of Morocco (Government) — here: Subsidy and public spending; there: says it has reduced cadmium in its fertilisers
- Morocco's catastrophe fund expected reinsurance after the 2023 El Haouz quake Morocco · 2023
- Government of Morocco (Government) — here: Subsidy and public spending; there: Planned the rise in the solidarity levy