Lender’s Independent Environment, Social and Technical Monitor – Saiss and Garet Water Conservation Project

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) provided a sovereign loan of up to EUR 150 million to the Kingdom of Morocco. This loan financed, along with a EUR 28 million grant by the EU’s Neighbourhood Investment Platform, the construction of key components of the Saiss water transfer network comprised of the main distribution pipeline, as well as the primary and secondary irrigation distribution networks for a total length of 135 km (the “Saiss II Project”) and the rehabilitation and modernisation of the water distribution network and complete conversion to a drip-fed watering system in the Garet perimeter (the “Garet Project”), (altogether, the “Saiss and Garet water conservation Project”).

The key objectives of the Project are to enable the switch from unsustainable groundwater abstraction to the use of more sustainable and climate-resilient surface water resources from the M’Dez dam, which will contribute to the restoration of the Saiss aquifer and rehabilitate and modernise the water distribution network in the Garet plain.

Throughout the Project, HYDROPHIL assisted the EBRD in monitoring the implementation of the contracts related to the different project components in terms of environmental, social and technical matters. This monitoring was done through periodic reporting and regular monitoring visits, focusing on project-related risks. HYDROPHIL identified any critical problems that might have threatened the Project’s implementation and advised the Bank on remedial measures to take corrective action.