DRR-Team Mission Report Morocco – Souss Massa Et Draa River Basin/Guelmim
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DRR-Team Mission Report Morocco – Souss Massa et Draa River Basin/Guelmim i Flooding in Guelmim November 2014 25 February 2016 Mission Report ii DRR-TEAM MOROCCO Document title Mission Report DRR Morocco – Souss Massa et Draa River Basin – Guelmim Status Draft (1) Date 25/2/2016 Project name DRR-Team scoping mission in Morocco Reference DRR15MA01 Drafted by Ele Jan Saaf/Marc van Dijk Checked by Date/initials check Approved by iii SUMMARY From 25th to 29th January 2016 a team from the Dutch Disaster Risk Reduction facility visited Morocco. The team was invited by the Ministère délégué auprès du Ministre de l’Energie, des Mines de l’Eau et de l’Environnement, chargé de l’Eau. The main reason that the team was in Morocco was to provide the Moroccan government with advice on flood early warning systems. In November 2014 severe floods occurred in the Guelmim area in the South of Morocco, and these events prompted the Moroccan authorities to invite a mission from The Netherlands. The mission was well received and had a very effective and efficiently organised visit to Guelmim. The mission was also able to meet with a large number of donors due to the hospitality and organisational support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of The Netherlands in Rabat. The main conclusions of the Dutch DRR’s team visit to Morocco are: 1. The Moroccan authorities have been able to effectively minimise the damage and human casualties from the floods in 2014, and are well prepared for a possible recurrence of floods in Guelmim; 2. There are a number of small improvements that can be made to the early warning systems for flash-floods in the South of the country. In the case of Guelmim the installation of automated water level gauges can advance warning time for flash floods with several hours only; improvements to incorporate rainfall forecasts can be more effective; 3. Proposals of the Dutch DRR-Team include suggestions for improved cooperation between the meteorological institute and the hydraulic departments. This is embedded within a framework of proposals for overall improved integration between the various line and service ministries through a multi-stakeholder dialogue as part of the three phases of protection from floods (prevention, spatial planning and crisis management). 4. Proposals have also focussed on improved communication before, during and after the floods. This has been linked to working with schools and using mobile phone technology as tools for communication (as long as the systems are operational). 5. For The Netherlands to be able to further support Morocco with these interventions a formal process of developing commitment from the Moroccan stakeholders is proposed. iv CONTENTS 1 BACKGROUND 7 1.1 Context 7 2 DRR-TEAM MISSION 8 2.1 Introduction 8 2.2 Scope of Work 8 2.3 Approach 8 2.4 Objectives 8 3 RESULTS AND FINDINGS 10 3.1 Introduction 10 In this section the results and findings, both from a technical and from a policy and institutional perspective, are presented. 10 3.2 Findings on early warning systems in the Souss Massa et Draa River Basin 10 3.3 Findings on regional/national standardization and monitoring of the Flood Early Warning Systems 15 3.4 Findings on financing the implementation of a regional/national standardization and monitoring of existing Flood Early Warning Systems in Morocco 17 4 RECOMMENDATIONS AND PROPOSED FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITIES 18 4.1 On Flood Early Warning Systems for Guelmim and Souss Massa et Draa basin 18 4.2 On regional/national standardization and monitoring of the Flood Early Warning Systems 22 4.3 On financing the implementation of the most promising measures 27 4.4 Follow-up 29 ANNEX A – DRR-TEAM 30 ANNEX B – TEAM MEMBERS 31 ANNEX C – TERMS OF REFERENCE 32 ANNEX D – MISSION PROGRAMME 38 ANNEX E – DOCUMENTS CONSULTED 39 ANNEX F – SELECTION OF PICTURES 39 v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ABH L'Agence du Bassin Hydraulique de Souss Massa et du Drâa AGIRE Programme d’Appui a la Gestion Intégrée des Ressources en Eau CTB Coopération Technique Belge Delft-FEWS Delft Flood Early Warning System DG Research FP7 Directorate-General Research 7th Framework Programme DMN National Meteorological Service DRR Dutch Risk Reduction / Disaster Risk Reduction EC European Commission ECMWF European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts EIB European Investment Bank GFS NOAA Global Forecast System GIS Geographical Information Systems GiZ German Technical Corporation HEC-HMS HEC Hydrologic Modelling System HEC-RAS HEC River Analysis System IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ITC International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation IWRM Integrated Water Resources Management KfW German Development Bank MATRA Maatschappelijke Transformatie MDF Management for Development Foundation MoI Ministry of Interior NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Orsec Organisation de la Réponse de SÉcurité Civile RVO Rijjksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland SDC Swiss Development Cooperation WRF Weather Research and Forecasting vi 1 BACKGROUND 1.1 Context Violent storms consisting of two successive periods of rain between November 20 and 24, and November 25 to 30, 2014 caused widespread flooding in a large part of south Morocco, including several dry river beds. More than 120 mm of rain fell in 24 hours along in Tangier, in Sidi Ifni, along the chain of the High and Anti Atlas mountains, and in the centre and east of the country. A severe drop in temperatures with snowfall in altitudes from 1,700 meters further complicated the situation. In total 47 people died, 1,093 people were rescued, and 1,690 people living in dangerous areas were evacuated as a precautionary measure. Thousands of adobe (mud brick) houses were destroyed and more than 100 roads were blocked by the flood waters and approximately 1.000 bridges were damaged. Losses totalled over 6 billion dirham (USD 600 million). Main territories affected were Guelmim, Chtouka Ait Baha, Taroudant and Smara, all within the river basin of the Souss Massa et Draa. In 2008, 2009 and 2010 mainly pre Sahara regions with a semi-dry to dry climate also experienced (flash) floods, with serious impact on people, livestock, infrastructure and agriculture. The risk of similar flood disasters in the short and medium future is significant. 7 2 DRR-TEAM MISSION 2.1 Introduction In this section the main scope of work, approach, objectives and description of the mission is presented. 2.2 Scope of Work The location of the mission was in the Guelmin Es Samara Region. The scoping mission included the following tasks: - Analyses and advice on reducing the risks of flooding in the Guelmim region with advice on an Flood Early Warning Systems for this region; - An inventory of the possibilities of financing an Flood Early Warning System in the Guelmim region by IFI’s such as WB, EU (ENI) or African Development Bank (AfDB); - Analyses and advice on a regional/national standardization and monitoring of Flood Early Warning Systems in Morocco; - Field visits in the Guelmim Region; - Presentation of preliminary advice on Flood Early Warning Systems in the Guelmim region and preliminary advice on a regional/national standardization and monitoring of the Flood Early Warning Systems for the Moroccan Government. The mission was implemented from 25 to 29 January 2016. The time allocated for the mission was one week. The report is a reflection of the findings and recommendations within the context of the length of the mission. 2.3 Approach The approach chosen by the consultants has been based upon the recommendations of RVO and the experience of the team with other DRR-Team missions and similar assignments. The main elements of the approach were: 1. The official request from the Moroccan authorities has been the main focus and guiding element of the mission; 2. Recommendations have been developed around “anchors” in the Dutch water sector that can support and provide services for the implementation of the recommendations; 3. Efforts have been made to identify financing sources; 4. Efforts have been made to identify and propose concrete follow-up activities. 2.4 Objectives Provision of technical assistance to the National Government of Morocco with specific advice on short-, medium and long-term Flood Early Warning Systems for the Guelmim Region and advice on a regional / national standardization and monitoring of Flood Early Warning Systems in Morocco. The mission: - Analysed the flood risk aspects in the Guelmim region; 8 - Analysed and advised on the implementation of an Flood Early Warning System in the Guelmim Region; - Analysed and advised on a regional / national standardization and monitoring of Flood Early Warning Systems in Morocco; - Made an inventory of the possibilities for financing the implementation of an Flood Early Warning System in the Guelmim region and the implementation of a regional / national standardization and monitoring of existing Flood Early Warning Systems in Morocco by IFI’s such as WB, EU, AFD, SDC, GiZ or AfDB; - Advised and presented (preliminary) results of the mission to national (relevant ministries) Authorities at the end of the mission; - Drafted a comprehensive report. 9 3 RESULTS AND FINDINGS 3.1 Introduction In this section the results and findings, both from a technical and from a policy and institutional perspective, are presented. 3.2 Meteorological context Guelmim province is a pre Sahara region with a semi-dry to dry climate. In recent years there has been an increase in heavy rainfall events in Morocco, resulting in unprecedented (flash) floods. The violent storms on 22-30 November 2014 in the Guelmim region resulted in flash floods and wadi (Oued) floods. The IPCC 2012 documents indicate that climate scenarios for Mediterranean climates are tending towards increased aridity and higher inter- and intra-annual rainfall variability, resulting in more frequent extremes.