A Moroccan town protests water management plans

RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Regional and local leaders in Morocco met this week with residents of an oasis where many have staged protests over a water management plan. Thousands in the eastern Moroccan town of Figuig have demonstrated against their municipal council’s plan to to transition drinking water management to a regional multi-service agency. The policy falls under Morocco’s broader water policy plans, which include management reforms, infrastructure and conservation in light of climate change and drought. Figuig relies entirely on groundwater and protestors worry changes could threaten their community’s future. They decry the plan as a pretext to privatization, a claim the government denies.