Water demand management for Casablanca, Morocco.

Water shortages could significantly curtail economic growth and development in Casablanca, Morocco. Conservation programs in Morocco have been implemented only occasionally, usually during a water shortage crisis arising either from technical reasons or from drought. Public awareness activities suffer from a lack of effectiveness and do not fulfill the desired objectives. The purposes of this study are to examine water consumption characteristics in Casablanca and develop approaches for water management to help assure that shortages will not undermine the prospects for sustainable economic development. Research procedures used were the development and estimation of water demand models for the residential/commercial, industrial, and institutional sectors, forecasts of water demand to 2010, and simulation of the effects of a complex of water conservation methods on the forecasted demands. The analysis of water demand is made through development and estimation of regression models, while the forecasts and simulations are carried out using the Institute of Water Resources Municipal and Industrial (IWR-MAIN) system developed for the U.S. Corps of Engineers. The results indicate that residential and commercial water demand has a price elasticity which is relatively inelastic ({dollar}-{dollar}0.448). Industrial water demand, although of unexpected sign, is responsive to price (1.267) and temperature ({dollar}-{dollar}4.038). Precipitation and GDP coefficients were not statistically significant. Institutional water demand is slightly responsive to price ({dollar}-{dollar}0.648). Temperature, precipitation and GDP were not statistically significant. The appropriateness and desirability of any given conservation method must be accepted by the community and the water utility. Thus, to have positive impacts on water management, water conservation measures must be planned as part of the whole water resources management strategy. The conservation approaches used in the simulations included public education, plumbing code revisions to require use of water conservation devises, leak detection and repair, pricing policy, metering, and pressure reduction. The results indicate that considerable saving in water use can be attained through a comprehensive water demand management program