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The Souss Massa Desalination Project in Morocco

An adaptation technique to divert away from groundwater is desalination. This involves the conversion of seawater to freshwater. Firstly, the seawater is treated to remove any impurities and then is filtered through reverse osmosis. The brine is diluted and returned to sea, whilst the freshwater goes through additional processes of remineralisation and chlorination to then be stored in tanks and distributed for consumption. 

The use of desalination in Morocco is a remedy that many political and economic actors have decided to turn to, following the overexploitation of groundwater that was being used to irrigate thousands of hectares of plantations and led to an annual deficit of 60 million m3 of water (Takouleu, 2018). An irrigation project using desalinated seawater in the Chtouka zone in the Souss Massa region was pushed forwards by the Moroccan Ministry of Agriculture. The project plant has a production capacity of 111,000 m3 per day and by 2035, this will increase to 166, 500 m3. 

A study of 847 farmers that had a cropping area of 12,770 ha was conducted to understand their views on desalination. 92% of those farmers were accepting of the project with a water demand equal to 32 Mm3, whilst 61% of agreeing to participate in the project investment (Takouleu, 2018). This highlights the wide acceptance that farmers had towards the use of desalination. However, the survey was conducted with farmers who had notably larger farm sizes. It would be worth understanding how the views of smaller farmers differ. 

Nevertheless, the project is particularly important in responding to the needs of vegetable and fruit producers in Chtouka, instead of over-exploiting aquifers (Hirich et al, 2015). This shows the potential of desalination to tackle food scarcity that would be exacerbated if Moroccans do not have an alternative source to groundwater. Desalination of seawater is evidently a judicious solution for the irrigation of crops and would allow not only water to be saved but continuing of vital horticultural produce. 

What stuck out about the project was the high level of involvement of farmers. Farmers were able to use an online website to facilitate communication and raise awareness of reducing groundwater consumption and resorting to freshwater from desalination. The website allows farmers to directly subscribe and take ownership of the project (Takouleu, 2018). 

Although desalination does have huge potential, it should not be forgotten that one aspect of insecurity can exacerbate another. Desalination addresses water insecurity issues but it is highly energy intensive (Jobbins et al, 2015). 


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