From Traditional to Modern Water Management Systems; Reflection on the Evolution of a ‘Water Ethic’ in Semi-Arid Morocco

Which strategic water policy options are semi arid, developing, Muslim, countries going to take in order to face the dilemmas that typically characterize the dual – and potentially conflicting – aspiration to modernize the economy whilst respecting traditional sociopolitical practices and ways of life? This chapter focuses on the case of Morocco, described as one of the most liberal countries of the Muslim Arab world and yet as a country that is keen to balance traditions and modernity -, in view of articulating a reflection on the conflicting interests that can clash when critical environmental and economic choices have to be made to position a developing country into the 21st century’s globalised world.