RABAT, Dec 22, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - Morocco is heading towards its sixth consecutive year of drought as rising temperatures lead to decline in rainfall, the North African country's water minister said on Thursday.
 
   "We have entered a critical phase after five years in a row of drought, which our country has never experienced before," Nizar Baraka told a news conference.
 
   Drought has been a major concern for Morocco, whose agriculture sector employs about one-third of Moroccans of working ago and accounts for 14 percent of exports, according to authorities.
 
   The last three months "showed that we are heading into another drought year, God forbid," Baraka said, noting rainfall had dropped 67 percent below the average for that period of the year.
 
   Water scarcity is exacerbated by warmer temperates which increase evaporation in dams. The agriculture ministry forecasts average temperatures rising 1.3 degrees Celsius by 2050.
 
   Morocco's dams are currently filled only to 23.5 percent, down from 31 percent at the same time last year, Baraka said, decrying "a very dangerous situation".
 
   But he said he was hopeful "because the next three months (are usually) the rainiest in our country".
 
   Local authorities might still need to cut off water supply temporarily, Baraka said.
 
   In the face of water scarcity, authorities have been betting on seawater desalination.
 
   Morocco plans to build seven desalination stations with a total capacity of 143 million cubic metres annually by the end of 2027.
 
   According to official data, there are currently 12 desalination stations in the country with a total capacity of 179.3 million cubic metres annually.
 
   The construction of a station in Casablanca, the country's largest city with 6 million inhabitants, is set begin next month.