Impetus - Universität zu Köln

32IMPETUS Development of scenariosIn the High Atlas, public water management concentrates on exploiting drinking water fromswellings and wells. Pipelines are increasingly installed to cover the demand for drinking water.State-driven support for the expansion of these local networks is, however, linked to higher costsfor the local population.Demand for irrigation water is covered through public accessible surface water. Extraction is notfully unregulated, but is more influenced and regulated by traditional patters of societal decisionmaking.However, the disposal of waste and waste water happens in a rather unregulated way.However, waste levels are very low due to high rates of recycling.In the Ouarzazate Basin water management is oriented towards ensuring the supply with drinkingwater via pipelines. This generates high investment costs which have to be covered partiallyby the consumers, via the water price. To secure supply, an exploitation of deep wells and theimport of drinking water from the High Atlas are necessary. Wells become subject to a stricterpublic control. The demand for water for irrigation is covered through the construction of smallreservoirs, but the irrigation with surface water continues to follow the traditional structures.More treatment plants are constructed in the cities to cope with waste water disposal. Waste disposalremains constrained to landfills in the urban areas, whereas dumping waste takes place in arather uncontrolled way in the rural regions. The waste volumes grow strongly.In the Oases water management is developing along a similar path like the Ouarzazate Basin.The focus is on installing pipelines and constructing deep wells. However, this strategy is confrontedwith the rising costs. A distinction has to be made between the northern oasis and the twosouthern oases. The southern oases are confronted with real problems concerning salted groundwater. As a result long-distance pipelines for water supply have to be installed. Securing a sufficientwater supply gets more and more the attention of public agencies which implement relatedmeasures to improve the situation.Regarding the treatment of waste and waste waster treatment plants are constructed in urban centres(Zagora). Otherwise, disposal is functioning relatively unregulated.