Résumé
Overexploited river basins have led to disputes over the use of water resources. The multiple uses that have developed over time are generally intertwined and characterized by nested and overlapping levels of decision-making forming a complex governance system. This paper focuses on the Tensift river basin (an area that includes Marrakech and the Haouz plain), in an area where water is a key resource for regional development, particularly for the largest and most water-dependent sectors (i.e. agriculture, tourism and urban expansion). Because they are competing sectors, their increasing needs inevitably translate into reallocations among users and sectors. After describing the hydrology of the basin, the paper examines how reallocations occur, whom they benefit, and how they are discursively justified. Three examples of the most significant cases of water reallocation are examined in detail. The challenges they represent will serve as a basis for an analysis of the Tensift river basin agency and its assumed regulatory role. Adapted from the source document.