The Ziz River ( ) is a river in the south of Morocco

Morocco

Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

 and Algeria

Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...

. It has its source in the Middle Atlas

Middle Atlas

The Middle Atlas is part of the Atlas mountain range lying in Morocco, a mountainous country with more than 100,000 km² or 15% of its landmass rising above 2,000 metres. The Middle Atlas is the northernmost of three Atlas Mountains chains that define a large plateaued basin extending eastward...

 Mountains of Morocco and flows 282 kilometres (175.2 mi) into the Sahara Desert in Algeria

Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...

. Although water flow is intermittent along the Ziz riverbed, its watercourse has long been used to facilitate human transit through the mountainous region.

Cities along the Ziz river include Er Rachidia

Er Rachidia

Errachidia, is a city in Morocco, located in the province of the same name province of Errachidia, in the region of Meknès-Tafilalet. It was formerly known as "Ksar Es Souk". is a partially Amazigh and Arabic-speaking town in the in eastern Morocco....

, Erfoud

Erfoud

Erfoud is an oasis town in the Sahara Desert, in in the Meknès-Tafilalet of the Maghreb region in eastern Morocco. It is located at .Erfoud is divided into several districts: Hay Salam, Hay Jdid, Hay Ziz, Hay el Bathaa, Hay Annahda, Hay el Hamri....

 and Sijilmassa. There is a dam with hydroelectric generating capacity on the Ziz at the south face of the High Atlas

High Atlas

High Atlas, also called the Grand Atlas Mountains is a mountain range in central Morocco in Northern Africa.The High Atlas rises in the west at the Atlantic Ocean and stretches in an eastern direction to the Moroccan-Algerian border. At the Atlantic and to the southwest the range drops abruptly...

Mountains.

Water rights

Along the Ziz there is typically a common water rights rule, wherein each village and villager is entitled to a fair use and extraction of Ziz waters. Characteristically water is diverted in flatter areas to form a canal that irrigates palm groves and other crops as well as supplies domestic use.