Water

The model-maker commented how nice to see somewhere where the only water was in  swimming pool and it may be appealing to Brits dodging floods and storms but people here would love some of that water. Not floods , the last time they had some people died because their pise mud homes disintegrated in the night, but some rain would be welcomed. 

We flew into Marrakesh and coming here by motorway you pass on of the main reservoirs for the area. It was almost empty. I am told that whilst I was ill there was a faint line of snow on the Atlas. It was much less than usual and and did not last. We have had the house twelve years now and there is noticeably less snow over the past few years than when we started coming.

 So we thought we'd go and see how the Sidi Abdullah dam was getting long. They seem to have been building it for the past decade and we thought we my be able to gaze on a lake by now, but sadly not as access is now restricted by  barrier but it has come on and looks like a dam now.

Meanwhile our water supply at home has improved greatly. It has always had variable pressure. We thought this was a method of rationing as it would be particularly low after noon prayers and recover after the next azan and of course it would give up completely on Friday mornings when everyone needed to wash at the same time.

When we came back in the autumn work had clearly been done to our external supply pipes. Now it seems to have been completed for the whole area and the pressure is much improved. We can have showers not just baths in the upstairs bathroom (We'd only been able to have hot showers downstairs) and wash up at 2pm if we wish.

Water management is key here,Morrocans would be scornful that in a country with Wales' rainfall that you could have floods in winter and hosepipe bans in summer. Marraakesh could only be built in the 11C because water was brought 50km in underground tunnels from the Atlas mountains.