The Dam at Bin el Ouidane was one of the last jobs the French completed before handing back the protectorate of Morocco.
The first feasibility studies were conducted in 1929 around the area of Ouaouizerth but construction didn't start till 1948.
The Dam at Bin el Ouidane is the largest hydro electricity dam in Morocco, it was completed in 1953 and has a hight of 132 m a length of 290m and for a long time it was the largest dam in Africa, holding back 1.5 million meters cubed of water.
The lake is fed from two sources, in the south the river Ahansal and to the east the river El Abid, the lake has a length of around 20 kms.
The water from the dam passes under the mountains to a small hydro electric station called d'Afourar and from there to literally hundreds of kms of irrigation canals that feed the Tadla valley and the fields of crops. (As you are arriving to Bin el Ouidane on the road from Marakesh you can see this impressive tube scaling the sheer mountain side.
Little could they have imagined that the lake would hold such a large quantity of large carp.
For more information on our fishing holidays please check out our sister site Morocco CarpThe black and white photos are reproductions from post cards of the time and we would like to thank Monsieur Ledaeron, a Doctor stationed at Ouaouizerth between 1952-1957 and to Anergui.
