Ensuring the supply of drinking water for the population of Assa-Zag, estimated at more than 50,000 people, has been the major concern of local authorities and the National Office for Electricity and Drinking Water (ONEEP), especially since this Saharan province, which does not experience heavy rainfall during the year, suffers as a result. In this context, an envelope of 21 million dirhams (MDH) was mobilised by this office for the 2012-2014 period for the realisation of a number of projects to strengthen the supply of drinking water in the Assa-Zag province.

These projects will have significant socio-economic repercussions and will contribute to improving the living and health conditions of citizens and protecting the environment and water resources of the region.

According to the regional directorate of the ONEP, these projects focus on the rehabilitation of the distribution network, hydromechanical equipment, and treatment stations, and the strengthening of production.

As a reminder, some 69 million DH were invested in the province during the 1975-2011 period and gave rise to several drinking water supply and sanitation projects. They have made it possible to improve the drinking water supply service and the sanitary conditions of the local populations, the same source adds, specifying that this notably includes the construction of a storage reservoir with a total capacity of 500 m3, two pumping stations, and the expansion and strengthening of the drinking water distribution network.

This province has benefited and continues to benefit from large investments aimed at the adduction and distribution of drinking water for the benefit of local populations. The coverage rates testify that a great step has been taken for the province, which is better equipped compared to neighbouring provinces. The urban environment has service indices that tend towards 90%. The rural area, for its part, has benefited from supply operations that have greatly improved its coverage, with the exception of some isolated areas or those with geographical specificities that limit the reach of the equipment realised there.