Sidi Driss Dam Construction Project

The present intervention concerns the Sidi Driss Dam Construction Project. The construction of the Sidi Driss intake dam forms the first phase of a vast “Central Haouz Development Programme” which, in addition to the construction of the Sidi Driss intake dam and that of Ait Chouarit, involves the raising of the Lalla Takerkoust dam, completion of a 128 km long canal with 20 m per second capacity head, a hydro-agricultural scheme covering an area of 57, 500 ha; and the construction of a hydro-electric plant and a sugar factory. The Sidi Driss dam should provide primarily the drinking water supply of the city of Marrakech and irrigation water from the Great Hydraulic Central Haouz, through the bypass channel whose catch is located immediately downstream of the dam. It should be one of the basic components in a proposed comprehensive water infrastructure to facilitate the intensive agricultural development of an additional 51,000 ha. A substantial quantity of electric power should be produced.