**3.2.2 Alternative environmental governance or 'Watering' the 'Printemps Maghrébin'**

The Commission Mondiale d'Ethique des connaissances Scientifiques et des Technologies, COMEST (the World Commission on Ethics, Scientific knowledge and technology) was still considering the debate on governance (in particular water governance) as relatively new, in 2004. It explained that "In general, governance is defined by the ways in which traditions and institutions allow to balance power in the running of a country. Water governance", it stressed, "deals with levels of governance where reality takes over theory. Good governance means that a genuine dialogue takes place. It allows people to define or re-define good shared principles, rights and responsibilities in view of improving the co-ordination of all involved parties, and stimulating development" (COMEST, 2004, p.8). In Morocco, a lot of shortcomings existing in the legal system as well as problems related to the lack of official recognition of certain rights, will have to be addressed if new modes of environmental governance are to really exist. Problems related to the 1995 water law were, for instance, illustrated by Boukhima (2009) who explained that the unrealistic financial conditions set by the law (payment of high fees to get the permission to drill a well, notably) had led to all sorts of illegal, de-regulated and ecologically destructive digging of wells by Syrian enterprises in the area of Souss-Massa-Darâa where the annual water deficit had already reached 233 million cubic meters. Similarly, economic and financial options taken by the Moroccan government in favour of the 'gestion déléguée' (private-public partnership) has been highly criticised and has been the object of numerous demonstrations. The right to accessing water is being jeopardised by current practices in favour of privatization and water pricing, and Non Governmental Organisations such as the ACME have been expressing their dissatisfaction and communicating the views of the Moroccan population, especially its wish to make water management more communal, since 'water is a common good that should not be privatized in any way, as well as the need to include the right to access water in a new constitution.

Moroccan researcher Tazi-Sadeq spent relentless efforts defending the human right to access water and sanitation services, and has done so in an official context, from a UNESCO office in Rabat. As she put it, "The right to water emerges as a concept around which changes and reconciliations can crystallise. It is necessary to reconcile economy and ecology over water. But this vital resource calls for other reconciliations. It makes it necessary to remedy different inequalities, to create an international legal and institutional framework followed at the level of states – first guarantors of effective access to water – and establish links between local and global action. Each of these changes represents an argument in favour of

From Traditional to Modern Water Management Systems;

in a new constitution (Box 1).

**4. Conclusion** 

Reflection on the Evolution of a 'Water Ethic' in Semi-Arid Morocco 255

water management from an educational angle, considering that environmental awareness and communication with communities will be needed if these are to take part in the implementation of sustainable development principles. In doing so, it showed its alignment with international initiatives such as the International decade of education for sustainable development 2005-2014. It also organized projects with women in rural communities. More recently, it also officially requested the inclusion of the right to access water and sanitation

The introduction of new 'voices' in the water decision-making process is both encouraged (through participatory principles concepts advocated in the new environmental charter) and feared by authorities used to hold the reins and relatively unfamiliar with democratic and human-scale development practices they are wishing to bring back into place. Morocco is currently experiencing, through its prolonged 'spring', a change in governance which, for the first time, also includes environmental considerations and re-link people to their land (and their water). This is a true 'revolution' in an 'ecological economics' sense of the term which, although it is only the beginning, could provide fascinating alternative modes of water governance – provided that the authorities dare listen to the various successful initiatives currently being undertaken to prove that modern and traditional can be happily reconciled in order to re-understand which practices work well for the Moroccan citizen and for the country. Such initiatives include efforts by the architect Aziza Chaouni (Aga Khan prize of architecture), who is working on the re-introduction of sustainable water management principles in the rehabilitation of the medina of Fes and people working on integrated forest and water management, or again efforts by numerous environmental NGOs to educate rural and urban populations in view of re-energizing their wish to value

the natural resources they depend on and they used to know how to protect.

Through a reflection on the evolution towards a new water ethics in Morocco, this chapter has attempted to explore the practical ecological, technical, and political implications of trying to put into practice concepts such as 'Integrated, sustainable, water management' for a developing, Muslim country. I started by describing the physical constraints this North African country has to deal with, its aridity and the irregularity in precipitation that make finding appropriate and locally adapted water policies a – difficult – necessity. I then gave a few examples of how traditional water management systems used to (and still do, in some regions) deal with water shortages and potential water conflicts, both in rural and in urban environments. I then explained how the French Protectorate, followed by the independence of the country, provided a new uneasy framework (of land tenure and water prioritization) that seemed to both go 'against the tide' (in terms of social structures and geographical specificities) but also open the door to 'modernisation' and economic development, a realm that the newly independent country was keen to embrace. Institutional reforms, new water laws and the creation of new stakeholders (water users associations, etc.) constituted a set of initiatives that intertwined with time and resulted in an emerging and growing need and wish to function within a new developmental and more environmentally friendly paradigm. This new paradigm includes notions such as participation, democratisation, decentralisation, integrated water management (Box 2), environmental charters and laws, ... Through its new 'green approach', the king of Morocco is both keen to be internationally perceived as respectful of 'green initiatives' undertaken worldwide – Morocco took part in

the promotion and proclamation of the right to water. The right to safe water would make it possible to ensure access to water without discrimination, in a sustainable and enduring manner and at a cost that is socially and economically acceptable; to avoid its becoming a threat to the environment, to aquatic systems, to health, to peace and security; to determine responsibilities; to put in place an effective governance and define its operation modes at the international, national and local levels; to mobilise necessary resources, coordinate partnerships and organise cooperation and solidarity" (Tazi Sadeq, 2005, p.13-15).

Other Moroccan stakeholders, such as numerous NGOs and, in particular, ACME-Maroc (Association for the world contract on water), are functioning in more participatory ways and communicating equally important messages, if more practically demanding, when it comes to political and institutional changes. Thus, the ACME for instance demanded that a public enquiry should be conducted - by the Parliament and the legal profession – to determine in which conditions, and in exchange of what, the decision to delegate the management and distribution of water, sanitation and electricity to private enterprises had been taken. It also demanded the re-opening of enquiries from anti-corruption instances because it suspected that the creation of delegated water management contracts had been corrupted and illegal in their applications. As a very active and militant association (NGO), it somehow characterises what many other NGOs are doing in Morocco – creating an alternative system of governance and expression by the people, calling for more justice and participative processes, demanding more recognition. The ACME approached issues of

Considering that:


Box 1. ACME's demand to include water rights in the Moroccan constitution

water management from an educational angle, considering that environmental awareness and communication with communities will be needed if these are to take part in the implementation of sustainable development principles. In doing so, it showed its alignment with international initiatives such as the International decade of education for sustainable development 2005-2014. It also organized projects with women in rural communities. More recently, it also officially requested the inclusion of the right to access water and sanitation in a new constitution (Box 1).

The introduction of new 'voices' in the water decision-making process is both encouraged (through participatory principles concepts advocated in the new environmental charter) and feared by authorities used to hold the reins and relatively unfamiliar with democratic and human-scale development practices they are wishing to bring back into place. Morocco is currently experiencing, through its prolonged 'spring', a change in governance which, for the first time, also includes environmental considerations and re-link people to their land (and their water). This is a true 'revolution' in an 'ecological economics' sense of the term which, although it is only the beginning, could provide fascinating alternative modes of water governance – provided that the authorities dare listen to the various successful initiatives currently being undertaken to prove that modern and traditional can be happily reconciled in order to re-understand which practices work well for the Moroccan citizen and for the country. Such initiatives include efforts by the architect Aziza Chaouni (Aga Khan prize of architecture), who is working on the re-introduction of sustainable water management principles in the rehabilitation of the medina of Fes and people working on integrated forest and water management, or again efforts by numerous environmental NGOs to educate rural and urban populations in view of re-energizing their wish to value the natural resources they depend on and they used to know how to protect.
