**1. Introduction**

228 Current Issues of Water Management

World Bank (a). "The Republic of Kenya: Towards a Water Secure Kenya". *Report No. 28398-*

World Bank (b). The World Development Report on Infrastructure and Development.

*KE.* World Bank: Washington DC, 2004.

World Bank: Washington DC, 2004.

Which strategic water policy options are semi arid, developing, Muslim, countries going to take in order to face the dilemmas that typically characterize the dual – and potentially conflicting – aspiration to modernize the economy *whilst* respecting traditional sociopolitical practices and ways of life? This chapter focuses on the case of Morocco, described as one of the most liberal countries of the Muslim Arab world - and yet as a country that is keen to balance traditions and modernity -, in view of articulating a reflection on the conflicting interests that can clash when critical environmental and economic choices have to be made to position a developing country into the 21st century's globalised world.

The chapter focuses on water because of the crucial importance of that resource in a semiarid country and because the ways in which it has been managed throughout centuries illustrate the changes in socio-political structures in the society. The focus on water in a semi arid country is symbolic of how precious natural resources are in the development of economies and societies. Morocco provides a fascinating terrain to explore ingenuous traditional water management structures and processes both in urban and in rural environments. Thus, for instance, traditional water management systems represent one of the architectural and urban pillars of the medina of the UNESCO World heritage - and cultural and spiritual capital of Morocco - Fes, whilst *khetarras* in the rural South (for instance), provide a remarkable example of a well-thought, long-lasting system of water collection and distribution. This country also developed, in the last decades, massive modern water policies focused on the construction of dams and water transfers. Economic principles constituted one of the main drives in the *politique des barrages* of the previous king (Hassan II), with a strong focus on agricultural production and exports targets. Morocco has however somehow questioned its development path in this beginning of the 21st century, with the arrival of its new king and a sense that the development of the country could be re-thought and targeted differently. A new Charter of the environment was created, massive investments were geared towards renewable energies and, more importantly, governance systems were questioned. Centralized versus more local – and

From Traditional to Modern Water Management Systems;

Reflection on the Evolution of a 'Water Ethic' in Semi-Arid Morocco 231

that figure should drop to 500 m3 (Et Tobi, 2003, p.6). The increase in water demand is therefore daunting. Second, **climate change** has resulted in a series of droughts (1982-1983, 1994-1995, 1999-2000) and localised floods (1995, 1996, 2001, 2002, 2010, 2011) and will make the average surface and underground water flow decrease by 15% between 2000 and 2020, following studies carried out in 2001 (Agoumi, 2005, p.36,37). As this author stresses, climate models predict a warming up of the North African region of 2 to 4 degrees Celsius throughout the 21st century, accompanied by a reduction in rainfall of 4% between 2000 and 2020. In Morocco, research centers estimate that the increase in temperature between 2000 and 2020 will probably be in the range of 0.6 to 1.1 degrees C., considerably affecting the

Source: Water Resources. COUNTRY PROFILE – Morocco. World Resource Institute 2006.

Fig. 1. Provides general data on water in Morocco, the Middle East and North Africa

http://earthtrends.wri.org/text/water-resources/country-profile-126.html

potentially more traditional – approaches of resource management were discussed. In this context, could the expression " 'modern water management' *versus* 'traditional water management systems'" become "revisiting traditional water management systems in order to re-think and question the notion of modernity in the context of water management"? If so, it would mean that a new type of water ethics is progressively emerging in a context where both the notions of economic development and centralized environmental governance are being questioned.

The objective of this chapter is to demonstrate that this could be the case in a country like Morocco and to explore what this would imply for the years to come. The chapter starts by presenting traditional and modern water management techniques. The evolution of the political dimensions of water management is then explored, allowing the reader to appreciate the extent to which technical choices are of a political nature. The chapter then concludes on the emergence of a new water ethics, with a particular focus on new understandings of development and environmental governance.
