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.

The chapter focuses on water because of the crucial importance of that resource in a semiarid country and because the ways in which it has been managed throughout centuries illustrate the changes in socio-political structures in the society. The focus on water in a semi arid country is symbolic of how precious natural resources are in the development of economies and societies. Morocco provides a fascinating terrain to explore ingenuous traditional water management structures and processes both in urban and in rural environments. Thus, for instance, traditional water management systems represent one of the architectural and urban pillars of the medina of the UNESCO World heritage-and cultural and spiritual capital of Morocco-Fes, whilst khetarras in the rural South (for instance), provide a remarkable example of a well-thought, long-lasting system of water collection and distribution. This country also developed, in the last decades, massive modern water policies focused on the construction of dams and water transfers. Economic principles constituted one of the main drives in the politique des barrages of the previous king (Hassan II), with a strong focus on agricultural production and exports targets. Morocco has however somehow questioned its development path in this beginning of the 21st century, with the arrival of its new king and a sense that the development of the country could be re-thought and targeted differently. A new Charter of the environment was created, massive investments were geared towards renewable energies and, more importantly, governance systems were questioned. Centralized versus more local–and