The Legal Protection of Inland Waters in Morocco

This article addresses a significant gap in Moroccan legal scholarship by examining the legal protection of inland water resources — both quantitative and qualitative — in a semi-arid country facing growing pressure on naturally limited resources subject to climatic variability. The author traces the evolution of the applicable normative framework from the foundational texts of the Protectorate to more recent legislation, and analyses the legal mechanisms for allocating water among competing users (irrigated agriculture, industry, drinking water supply), the inadequacies of the concession and use authorisation system, and the failures of the groundwater and watercourse pollution prevention and repression regime, aggravated by the dispersal of competences among multiple administrations. The author concludes with a call for a modern water code integrating environmental protection imperatives, guaranteeing rational and equitable water resource management, strengthening sanctions against pollution, and endowing Morocco with a coherent legal regime commensurate with the challenges posed by water scarcity in a context of accelerated development.