Holding Stakes in Water Management and Irrigation in Morocco : PIM policy Effects

The main policy reforms concerning irrigation management in Morocco over the last thirty years have been the introduction of mechanisms aimed at achieving financial autonomy of the Administration in charge of irrigation systems managemement -Offices Régionaux de Mise en Valeur Agricoles (ORMVA)- by applying appropriate water pricing and involvement of water users in the operation and maintenance of their irrigation systems, by transferring some responsibilities to water users' associations (AUEA). These policy reforms were presented by the World Bank projects (PAGI1 and PAGI 2) as crucial steps that Morocco should take to improve the productivity and sustainability of its irrigation sector. After more than thirty years, implementation of these reforms has been fraught with difficulties and many delays. Results and impacts are very timid and vague. The Moroccan GPI experience shows that an “ingredient” was missing to drive change. In fact, setting up new local organizations to participate in irrigation management and calls for new institutional arrangements to tackle the huge problems of moroccan large scale irrigation sector is not sufficient to drive change. A profound realistic thinking on irrigation governance and large concertation between water users are needed to meet the challenges of water scarcity, climate change and water security in the country. This article assesses the participation of Water Users' Associations (AUEA) established in Tadla irrigated scheme in Morocco. It reviews the contxt of adoption of the Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) policy in Morocco and re-examines the process of initiating and developing AUEAs in large irrigated perimeters, analyzing the specific case of the Beni Amir irrigation project. The questions of participatory planning and joint management are at the heart of our analysis.