In August 2017, Water. Desalination + reuse (Faversham House) reported, citing the newspaper L'Economiste, that Morocco was completing a feasibility study and the financial and institutional set-up for a seawater desalination plant in the Casablanca-Settat region to serve Casablanca. Further schemes were said to be planned in places including Al Hoceima, El Jadida, Safi and Essaouira, plus an Abengoa project at Agadir of up to 450,000 m³/day. One study put the desalination need by 2030 at 425 million m³.
The report showed Morocco turning to seawater as a fixed pillar of supply, framed by a new water security law meant to stop overuse of resources.