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PROJECT INFORMATION DOCUMENT (PID) APPRAISAL STAGE Report No.: AB5283 Project Name Morocco Oum Er Rbia Sanitation Region MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA Public Disclosure Authorized Sector Sanitation (100%); Project ID P098459 Borrower(s) OFFICE NATIONAL DE L'EAU POTABLE (ONEP) Implementing Agency ONEP – Morocco Office National de l'Eau Potable (ONEP) Station de Traitement Akrach Route des Zaers,-Akrach Rabat Morocco Tel: (212-537) 650-695 Fax: (212-537) 726-707 Environment Category [X] A [ ] B [ ] C [ ] FI [ ] TBD (to be determined) Public Disclosure Authorized Date PID Prepared March 8, 2010 Date of Appraisal March 30, 2010 Authorization Date of Board Approval May 27, 2010 A. Country and Sector Background 1. With 700m3/capita/yr, of which 70 percent of withdrawals are from surface water and 30 percent from groundwater, Morocco has the highest water potential in the Maghreb. However, the water is unevenly distributed between different parts of the country and highly variable within and between years. Droughts are common. Ninety percent of economically accessible surface resources are already dammed, leaving few options for additional surface water storage. Public Disclosure Authorized Population and economic growth have increased demand even as supply has fallen. The country has seen a 30 percent drop in average precipitation since 1970, increasingly accepted as a sign of climate change. In recent years, the amount of surface water stored in dams has repeatedly fallen short of the amount expected. As a result, severe restrictions for irrigation water have been common. Wherever they can, farmers have been partially making up the shortfall in surface water by tapping into groundwater, and aquifer depletion is becoming more and more serious. The allocations for urban and municipal water are around 15 percent the total water abstracted in Morocco. Urban growth and further declines in average precipitation associated with climate change make it almost sure that the amount of water available for irrigation will decline over the next few decades in most basins of Morocco. 2. Strategic shifts in Morocco’s water sector. Morocco’s water policies have long focused on securing scarce and unevenly distributed resources for urban and agricultural needs, through Public Disclosure Authorized the development of dams, large scale irrigation perimeters, and urban water supply systems. While creating infrastructure and institutions, this supply-driven focus also led to neglecting investments for water conservation, sanitation and pollution control, and rural water supply. Since the late 90s, the Government of Morocco (GOM) has taken steps to bring about better resource management and protection, as well as better access and efficiency in infrastructure service, with growing awareness of the need to advance demand management policies. The Bank and GOM elected water as a sectoral entry point for the 2005-2009 Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) objectives, and developed a CAS “water pillar” aimed at “improving water management and access to water and sanitation services”. This water partnership has been underpinned by substantial analytical work, policy dialogue, and innovation, and was recently articulated around a programmatic Water Sector Development Policy Loan (2007- 2009) supporting reform in sector governance, water resources management, irrigation, and water supply and sanitation. The new Country Partnership Strategy 2010 -2013 (finalized in December 2009) also highlights the need for continued efforts to increased service provision especially in wastewater collection and treatment” 3. Prioritizing Sanitation: The National Sanitation Program. Sanitation is substantially less developed than potable water which is quasi-universal in all urban areas in Morocco. The sanitation network connection rate is estimated 76% in large cities with a population of more than 100,000 and less than 40% for small and medium cities. Urban sanitation service is generally poorly maintained, with limited capacity, and many quite degraded – in need for rehabilitation. Sewer overflowing is commonplace during the rainy season. An extensive study1 shows negative impacts on public health, environment and economy due to poor sanitation and lack of adequate pollution control. Wastewater treatment covers only 5% of collected sewage and the reuse of wastewater is practiced in an uncontrolled manner. The National Sanitation Program (NSP) which was prepared in 2006 (and reviewed by a joint World Bank-KfW team2) upon the request of the Inter-ministerial Commission on Water provides a policy framework for investments to address the lagging coverage in sanitation (especially in small towns), pollution control, and highlighting the wastewater reuse potential in Morocco. The objective of the NSP by 2020 is to increase the overall rate of sanitation access to 80%, and wastewater treatment to 60%. The current (improved) sanitation coverage for urban areas is about 97% and 40% for small towns and rural areas. The National Sanitation Program targets 260 towns covering about 10 million people. The estimated costs of the program were put at 43 billion Dirhams (about US$5 billion). B. Rationale for Bank involvement 4. The Bank is well positioned to support the project due to: (i) its long-standing partnership with ONEP; (ii) its continued efforts to support the GOM efforts on sectoral reforms under the 2005-2009 CAS and the recent Country Partnership Strategy (December 2009), building on its recent involvement in a programmatic Water Sector DPL, supporting reforms in sector governance, water resources management, irrigation, and water supply and sanitation; and (iii) its added value as a knowledge and innovation broker to support ONEP in its relatively new mandate of sanitation under the NSP. It is also worth noting that this sanitation project belongs to a package of integrated operations supported by the Bank in the Oum er Rbia river basin, including the Oum er Rbia Irrigated Agriculture Modernization project (under preparation), and 1 Banque Mondiale: Royaume du Maroc, Evaluation du Cout de la Dégradation de l’Environnement, Rapport 25992- MOR, Juin 2003 2 Revue Strategique du Programme National d’Assainissement”, Partenariat Banque Mondiale – KFW ; Rapport No. 40298-MA” May 2008: 2 grant-funded activities to build the capacity of the Oum er Rbia Basin Agency to adapt to climate change. Specifically the rationale for World Bank involvement includes: 5. Supporting a long-standing partnership with a key national operator. ONEP is the most important water supply operator in Morocco, responsible for serving over 500 medium to small towns, or about 35% of urban population3. Countrywide, ONEP is in charge of potable water production and transmission for bulk sale to distributors (“autonomous régies” and private operators), and of rural water supply development. Since 2004 ONEP’s mandate has been expanded to install, upgrade and operate sanitation systems in the towns where it distributes water. Under the new National Sanitation Program, ONEP’s role is essential in the expansion of coverage of sanitation in Morocco, particularly in small towns. This proposed operation will help ONEP fulfill its new mandate to increase the overall sanitation access rate, and wastewater treatment, and thus narrowing the service gap between large and small towns. ONEP has been supported by the Bank since its 1972 inception and has requested the World Bank to help pilot the implementation of the NSP while fulfilling its new role in sanitation. 6. Pursuing the water partnership with the GOM under the CPS. The Bank and GOM elected water as a sectoral entry point for the 2005-2009 Country Assistance Strategy, and developed a CAS “water pillar” aimed at “improving water management and access to water and sanitation services”. This water partnership is continued under the new CPS and is built on substantial analytical work, policy dialogue, and innovation4, and is articulated around reforms in sector governance, water resources management, irrigation, and water supply and sanitation. 7. Serving as a knowledge and innovation broker in urban sanitation. The Bank is not only providing financing to a long-established partner, but also brings into play its extensive knowledge on best practices from other countries especially on appropriate and cost effective technologies. The Bank has recently organized a study tour in Brazil for Moroccan sector professionals to exchange experiences on innovative wastewater management practices. It is expected that significant cost reductions (in the range of 30-40%) can be achieved through some well-tested technologies such as the “condominial sewers”, as used in Brazil. The feasibility and viability of this project can also be enhanced through the potential use of credit carbon related to the capture and use of methane gas generated in wastewater treatment plants. Furthermore, the experiences in other countries on using waste-generated biogas for domestic uses can prove beneficial in expanding the benefits of the project to poor households. These social and environmental considerations will also contribute to increase project sustainability. These practices together with sound social, economic, and environmental approaches, once proven successful, can be later scaled-up by ONEP within the framework of NSP. C. Objectives 8. The project development objective is to improve the access to sustainable sanitation and pollution reduction services for the dwellers of ten medium and small