WMOD00318

• Title: A Cooperative Project Between the Kingdom of Morocco and the United States
• Date: 9/1/1989
• Country: United States, Morocco
• Weather Modification - Doc Type: Report

1.5.2 National Steering Committee. - The NSC was organized to provide national support to
the project and serve as liaison between the two primary implementing agencies (DMN and FRA)
and other interested GOM agencies. It was comprised of representatives from the: following
ministries and agencies: Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of the Interior,
Ministry of Mines and Energy, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Post and Telecommunications,
and the National Center of Coordination and Planning of Technical and Scientific Research. The
committee met once each year to review progress a~d make recommendations.

1.5.3 Mission project officer. - The project was in the portfolio of the Mission's Energy and
Natural Resources Division, which was directed by Mr. Stephen Klein. The USAID Mission project
officer was responsible for in-country project administration and routine monitoring. He
coordinated with the Resident Scientific Advisor to ensure project performance and represented
the Mission on the Project Steering Committee. The series of Mission project officers - John
Giusti (1984-85), Robert Kahn (1986, 1988), Samir Zoghby (1986-87), and Eric Loken (1988-89)
- provided excellent support to the project and guided the critical management decisions. Their
experience in developing and implementing technical assistance projects contributed greatly to the
successful implementation of Programme Al Ghait. Specific assistance included coordination of
training with the Mission training officer and coordination with other Mission offices including
Planning, AgriqIlture, and Economics, and within Energy and Natural Resources.

1.5.4 Resident scientific advisor. - Reclamation assigned a scientist full time to the field
program in Morocco. Dr. David Matthews moved to Casablanca and served as the RSA at the
project headquarters at Casablanca Anfa Airport. He provided scientific management, technical
monitoring of contractors in the field, and project coordination. He worked with the Moroccan
meteorological and technical team on a day-to-day basis in developing a scientifically sound program
and providing, advice and training in its execution.

1.5.5 Annual monitoring review. - The project plans called for an Annual Monitoring Review
(AMR) by Dr. Bernard A. Silverman of Reclamation and the Environmental Coordinator, Bureau
for Asia/Near East of the USAID Washington Office. Each year the AMR team visited Morocco
and reviewed the project with the PSC and the USAID Mission. They visited all project field sites
and the facilities of cooperating GOM organizations to examine the scientific quality of the project
and verify the use of suspension criteria in cloud seeding operations. The monitoring team
provided expertise regarding the scientific basis of the project, operations, management, and
environmental issues.

1.5.6 External evaluation. - Three senior experts in the scientific, operational, and water
resources aspects of the project were selected to provide an independent review of the project and
advise Reclamation, the PSC, and the USAID Mission on the progress toward its objectives. The
team made three in-country reviews, each of 2 weeks' duration. The team focused on the scientific
design, project implementation, project management, institutional development, transfer of
technology and training, and the water resources planning and management.

1.5.7 Coordination with other donors. - Given the need identified in the Weather Modification
Assessment (Silverman et aI., 1983) and the Project Paper (Lintner and Silverman, 1984) to improve
water resources and land use management, the USAID Mission attempted to coordinate with other
donors, particularly the World Bank. It provided information on the findings of the project,

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