Morocco - Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project (Formerly listed as Rural Water Supply Project)

Report No. PIC3736 Project Name Morocco-Rural Water Supply and (@+) ... Sanitation Project Region Middle East and North Africa Sector Rural Development Project ID MAPA40566 Borrower Kingdom of Morocco Implementing Agencies Ministry of Public Works (MTP), and Office National de l'Eau Potable (ONEP) Rabat, Morocco. Contact: Mr. M. Jellali, Director-General Hydraulics Department, MTP Tel: 011.212.7.77.87.42 Fax: 011.212.7.77.86.96 Date initial PID prepared April 1996 Date this update February 1997 Project Appraisal Date February 1997 Project Board Date July 1997 Background 1. Morocco has redressed its macroeconomic balances and now is liberalizing its economy thereby providing a basis for strong economic growth and permitting improvements in living standards and poverty reduction. As one of the initiatives, the Government of Morocco (GOM) has prepared a National Rural Water Supply program with UNDP assistance. This is a 10-year program to supply 11 million people in 31,000 villages with safe potable water and thereby help reduce social inequities vis-a- vis the urban population. Whereas most urban populations have access to safe piped water, only about 20 percent of the rural population do so. The Rural Water Supply program wants to increase this number to 80 percent at a cost of about US$1 billion. The proposed project is the first phase of this program. It would be sized according to GOM's implementation capacity and available finance. The operation fulfills priority action of the Government and the Bank's country and rural development strategy which calls for equitable growth and a correction of social disparities through, inter alia, rural infrastructure investments, especially water. At the same time, the Government is also developing a Pilot Rural Infrastructure Project to test approaches to supplying a complete package of infrastructure services including water, electricity, sanitation and access roads or tracks, in six provinces. Project Objective 2. The main objective of the project is to provide safe drinking water to the rural populations and thereby improve their living conditions and help reduce the social disparities with urban areas. It would also  train young rural unemployed in the maintenance of project structures with a view to providing a nucleus for small rural repair workshops and thereby contributing to increasing rural activities and incomes and reducing unemployment. The project would introduce the latest ideas and practices for participatory techniques which would also help ensure sustainability. It would be the first slice of the Government's program which would be flexible enough to work out any teething problems and provide a model for future follow-on projects in this area. The first slice of the program is expected to take 3 to 5 years depending on the availability of counter-part funds. Close coordination will be maintained with other initiatives in rural areas (infrastructure, social investments) to take advantage of the synergism of complementary investments and actions. Project Description 3. The project would cover the whole country with beneficiary villages selected through participatory methods on the basis of objective criteria. The latter would be complementary with other GOM investments and programs such as Social Priorities Program (SPP) which will be targeted under the proposed Bank-funded BAJ projects. The project components would include: (a) rehabilitation and creation of collective potable water supply installations in rural villages (including conduits, water storage, standposts, wells, pumps; (b) to maximize the health benefits, the supply of drinking water will be accompanied by sanitation measures as needed and will include sensitization of beneficiaries to the sanitation and health aspects of clean water; (c) institution building including organizing, training and equipping regional project teams charged with the participatory selection of beneficiary villages; and (d) organizing, training and equipping teams for the maintenance of project installations. Project Cost and Financing 4. Total project cost is currently estimated at about US$150 million with a proposed Bank loan tentatively placed at US$40 million. Other donors are being approached to provide loans and grants of about US$80 million in parallel co-financing. Project Implementation. 5. Experience has shown that without a clear commitment from the beneficiary populations water supply installations in rural areas quickly deteriorate and are not sustainable. This is why project teams, technical staff (engineers and sanitary experts) and facilitators (animateurs and animatrices) will visit each candidate village to consult with populations and to obtain their views and commitment for the project. Only villages which show active interest in the project and are prepared to contribute to its operation and maintenance will be provided with water supply installations by the project. The Rural Water Supply plan envisages a large degree of decentralization to empower the users associations with the responsibility for the management of water installations with support and coordination from the Communes. The program will be supported and coordinated from the center under the National Coordinating Committee set up for the Rural Water - 2 -  Supply Program and involving the ministries of Public Works, Interior, Agriculture, and Health as well as the Office National de l'Eau Potable (ONEP). At the Provincial level support will come from Commissions including the Provincial Council and the provincial branches of concerned Government agencies. Institutional arrangements will be given particular attention during project preparation and will be consistent with other Bank activities affecting this area. Project Sustainability 6. The firm commitment of the local populations would be key to project sustainability. Therefore, the project uses a community based approach which aims at the participation of the local populations throughout the entire process, i.e. in the selection of the locations and type of project installations, their implementation, and their operation and maintenance. Rationale for Bank Involvement 7. The project is part a Government priority program to provide safe water to rural populations and reduce disparities with urban areas. The Bank's experience in rural development and rural infrastructure investments makes it uniquely placed to help GOM benefit from the lessons learned and "state of the art" approaches to the problem. Such Bank experience includes in particular the completed Loukkos, Fes-Karia- Tissa, Oues-Rommani and Middle Atlas projects and in five water supply projects of which the third project had a rural component, as well as experience from similar projects in Africa and elsewhere in the world. Furthermore the Government looks to the Bank to play a role in attracting finance from other cofinanciers. Lessons Learned 8. The main lessons learned include: (a) full ownership of the project by the Government, the implementors and the beneficiaries, is essential if it is to succeed; (b) a subset of the latter is the need to include the beneficiaries in the planning of the water supply schemes, to gain their commitment on future maintenance; (c) simple projects with few components are most likely to succeed; (d) rural and area development projects require that time be allowed at project inception to prepare for implementation; and (e) in Morocco, budget commitment and funding arrangements are vital. Issues and Actions 9. The main issues foreseen at this stage are: (a) institutional arrangements to ensure ownership and efficient project execution; (b) the financing package and arrangements to permit smooth project implementation in a participatory manner; and (c) coordination of this operation with other governmental endeavors in rural development (e.g. electricity, access roads, etc.). The appraisal mission will review these aspects. -3-  Program Objective Category 10. The project is targeted to improve basic services for rural areas, where most of the poor in Morocco live. Environmental Aspects. 11. The project is ranked as a Category B project. Please see attached Annex. Project Benefits 12. The project would contribute towards providing basic needs of the rural populations, particularly the poor, by providing them with safe drinking water. This would reduce waterborne diseases and a healthier population would in turn mean higher productivity and increased contribution to the national output. In addition, relief from long distance water haulage would permit higher school attendance levels and improve literacy among young girls, who currently spend a disproportionate amount of their time in fetching water over long distances. Risks 13. The main risks include: (a) level of commitment of the local populations to the project to ensure its sustainability; (b) unequal commitment of involved ministries and communes to ensure funding for the project; (c) future maintenance of project installations. These risks would be reduced by involving the population more in project design, implementation, and maintenance. The Government's commitment to funding wouuld be reconfirmed during the appraisal process and appropriate assurances would be sought. Contact Point: Mr. T. Sinha, Task Manager The World Bank 1818 H Street N.W. Washington D.C. 20433 Telephone No.: (202)473-2809 Note: This is information on an evolving project. Certain components may not necessarily be included in the final project. Processed by the Public Information Center week ending Feb. 28, 1997 - 4 -  ANNEX ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS The project will have a positive impact in improving people's health and would be categorized as "B" for the purpose of the environmental assessment. The project's major environmental impact would improve rural hygiene through an organized supply of safe drinking water and the construction of basic sanitary facilities. The increased supply of water, including in some cases through house connections, poses an immediate risk of unsanitary wastewater disposal and the consequences of surface and groundwater pollution. The project would avert these risks through technically-appropriate and affordable installations. To reduce additional health risks, the project would also not allow use of asbestos-cement pipes.