Catching fog to bring water to mountain villages in south-west Morocco
A small Moroccan non-profit worked with Amazigh villages for years to turn Atlantic fog into piped drinking water, sparing women hours of daily walking to wells.
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The small thing
Before building anything, Dar Si Hmad spent years on surveys and tests. In 2010 its first ethnographic field-school students helped carry out a community survey of the villages the fog project would serve.
The problem
In the Aït Baamrane area on the edge of the Sahara, rainfall is very low and drought has lowered groundwater. Women and girls spent around three hours or more a day fetching water from distant, depleted wells. Some families left for the cities.
Why Jamila Bargach started
Dar Si Hmad was co-founded by Jamila Bargach and Dr Aissa Derhem, who had first learned about fog collection while studying in Canada (Thomson Reuters Foundation/WEF). The mountain of Boutmezguida is covered in fog on roughly 130–145 days a year, so the team saw fog as a local water source. Bargach has described water collection as a burden that limited young women's opportunities (Morocco World News).
What they did
After about nine to ten years of surveys and feasibility work with the University of La Laguna and other partners, the system went into operation around 2015. Mesh nets on Mount Boutmezguida catch droplets from fog blowing in from the Atlantic; the water drains into a basin, is filtered and piped to villages. Because Moroccan law requires drinking water to be mineralised, it is mixed with groundwater before use.
The original nets tore in strong winds, so Dar Si Hmad worked with the German WaterFoundation (Wasserstiftung) to install stronger 'CloudFisher' nets. Women were given mobile phones and training to report on the system, and Dar Si Hmad ran a 'water school' and literacy and income workshops. Residents pay for water with prepaid cards, with prices rising above a set amount per person to discourage commercial use.
What changed
Figures differ by date and source. In 2016 the UNFCCC described the system as serving more than 400 people in five villages, averaging about 6,300 litres a day. In 2018 the Thomson Reuters Foundation reported about 140 families across 14 villages, and in 2023 The New Arab reported 31 collectors supplying about 1,600 people. Villagers interviewed by PRI's The World said the water freed time for study and for work such as argan oil production. The project received a UN Momentum for Change award (Women for Results) in 2016. These numbers come largely from the organisation and media reports and have not been independently audited.
What they learned
Bargach has said the project should not be reduced to a technical success story; changing how people saw fog mattered too. Many residents had believed fog prevented rain and did not trust it (PRI's The World).
“When you don't have water, you live in water anxiety.”Jamila Bargach and Dar Si Hmad (with co-founder Aissa Derhem and the Aït Baamrane villages), as quoted by The New Arab
Copy this idea
Practical guidance written by our editors from the sources below. Adapt it to your place, and check local rules and safety first.
- Problem addressed
- A community near coasts or mountains with frequent fog but little rain or groundwater.
- What to do
- Study local fog frequency, test small mesh collectors, then pipe collected water to a shared storage tank or homes, with local people trained to monitor and maintain the system.
- Materials and resources
- Fine mesh nets on sturdy frames, gutters, storage tanks, filters and piping; water testing.
- Approximate cost
- Moderate
- Skills
- Site measurement, basic engineering, water quality testing, community organising.
- Time
- Years of testing before a full system; ongoing maintenance.
- People needed
- A local organisation, technical partners and households who help run it.
- Difficulty
- Hard
- Risks and limitations
- Wind damage to nets, changing fog patterns, water quality and legal drinking-water standards, unfair water allocation.
- How to adapt it
- Start with a small test collector for irrigation or livestock before supplying drinking water; check national water rules.
- Lessons learned
- Spend time on trust and local beliefs, not just hardware; involve the people who previously carried the water in running the new system.
Why it matters
Fog harvesting cannot solve water shortages across a region: atmospheric water is a tiny share of the world's freshwater and only suits specific foggy sites. But for small mountain communities near the right conditions, it shows how a low-energy, locally managed system can reduce the daily burden of carrying water.
Policy connection
International commitments this kind of action contributes to. Listing a framework does not mean the person or group was working towards it.
- SDG 6.1 and 6.4: Safe and affordable drinking water for all; increase water-use efficiency and address scarcity.
- Paris Agreement, Article 7: Enhancing adaptive capacity, strengthening resilience and reducing vulnerability to climate change.
What didn't work
The first nets were not strong enough for high winds and tore, and had to be replaced with a sturdier design. Many residents initially distrusted fog, and some women who were proud of their role as water carriers resisted the change. Bargach reported that dense-fog days on the mountain had fallen from about 145 to 135 since the project began. Expansion to more villages depends on funding, and Derhem has said large-scale fog collection needs investment.
Editor's note
The most recent independent coverage found (The New Arab, August 2023) describes the fog collectors as operating. Dar Si Hmad's own website remains active. No 2024–2026 news report was found confirming Jamila Bargach's current role.
Sources: how do we know?
Evidence level: Documented. Supported by reliable published sources such as UN agencies, award bodies and reputable journalism. Not yet independently re-verified by our editors. What the person says and what independent sources establish are attributed separately in the text.
- reputable journalism
Moroccan fog harvesting project wins United Nations award — Morocco World News, 29 September 2016Supports: 2016 UN Momentum for Change award; five villages, 400+ people; Bargach's comments on women's burden and the project as more than a technical story. - un agency
Women for Results: Fog harvesting (Momentum for Change project summary) — UNFCCC, 2016Supports: Average 6,300 litres/day, 600 m² of nets, 400+ residents in five villages, women trained to report on system; 10 years of research. - reputable journalism
Tackling water scarcity in Morocco by harvesting fog — Lauren Lewis, The New Arab, 15 August 2023Supports: 31 collectors serving 1,600 people; mineralisation with groundwater; prepaid cards; drop in fog days; Bargach quote on water anxiety. - reputable journalism
These Moroccans are turning foggy days into a solution to their water crisis — Rebecca Rosman, The World (PRX/PRI), 29 March 2018Supports: CloudFisher nets on Mount Boutmezguida; distrust of fog; resistance from some women; water school; villagers' accounts of benefits. - reputable journalism
Moroccan women are catching fog to solve the water crisis — Valeria Cardi, World Economic Forum / Thomson Reuters Foundation, 18 May 2018Supports: Running since 2015 after nine years of tests; original nets tore in wind; 140 families in 14 villages; Derhem's background. - organisational
Jamila Bargach (Campbell Resident Scholar) — School for Advanced Research, 2010Supports: Bargach is an anthropologist; 2010 ethnographic field school community survey for the fog project. - reputable journalism
This woman has found a way to harvest drinking water from fog — Thomas Duthois and Abdellah Azizi, Euronews, 20 July 2022Supports: Bargach co-founded Dar Si Hmad with Dr Aissa Derhem in 2010; expansion depends on funding.