The regulation aims to bring enterprises to provide the water service with the best cost, while respecting the discounted service quality. Varieties of entity types witch could assure the regulation may be a central department depending on a ministry or an independent regulating authority. The overall aim is the creation of a regulation agency of the water sector with the objective to complete the institutional arsenal encouraging the integration of the sector. Currently, the retained option varies according to the case: either private or public operator.

While waiting for the creation of an independent organisation, the regulation is currently assured by the different ministries that exercise the control provided for by the law: quality norms, rating, legislation enforcement, hygiene and security, etc.

Every private operator is monitored by a Committee, which ensures that the operator respects his engagement towards contracts programs, evolution of tariffs, technical, administrative and financial management aspects. However, limits are imposed over this control. Issues where control is not exercised are:

• Pricing of the public water service (revision of tariffs submitted according to the previous agreement of the government)
• Water norms of potability;
• Rights on the water;
• Water repartition and deprivation.

Committees work under the supervision of the direction of regies and conceded services (DRSC), under the control of the Ministry of the Interior.

For public operators, Committees have limits in terms of control. In particular, they do not intervene at the:

• Definition of prices that are decided by the prime minister,
• Norms of water potability, of rights on water, repartition and deprivation of water that are the decided by the MATEE, through the ONEP, and Basin Agencies.

Irrigation supply sources comprise:

• Surface waters regularized by dams which are financed by state budgets and abroad financings; 
• Groundwater either distributed by the ORMVA or directly pumped by the farmer.

Cost recovery is assured by a unique tariff (without consumption blocks), which vary, according to the basin. 

With regard to groundwater, two water charges are applied:

• The first concerns water delivered by the ORMVAS to the entrance of the parcel of the farmer: 0,50 Dh/m³ in general.
• The second concerns water pumped by the farmer using his own equipment: 0,02 Dh/m³ is paid to these ORMVAS;

For surface water, the tariff varies between basins. In the Oum Er Rbia Basin the charge equals 0,24DH/m³).

Water users in the agricultural sector incur problems to water management through the irrational utilization, mostly due to the low tariff for groundwater pumped in their parcels (0,02 Dh/m³). In particular:

• The loss of water in parcels is extremely high (more than 60% of water are lost in the irrigation networks)
• There is still choice of water intensive crops (bananas, melon, etc.);
• There is low cost recovery rate, which does not exceed the 30%.
• All the above result in the over-exploitation of groundwater sources.