Abstract
Soil erosion is a major factor leading to dams’ siltation and reducing their storage capacity. This study mapped the hot spots of soil erosion areas to predict the soil erosion/siltation in the Ghiss basin/dam (northeastern Morocco). In this context, various data has been prepared in the geographical information system for the estimation of soil erosion by integrating the universal soil loss equation (USLE). The result of this study revealed that soil loss rate ranges between0 and 19 t∙ha−1∙yr−1. Therefore, the hot spots in the soil erosion area are to be found upstream, potentially leading to dam siltation over time. To avoid Ghiss dam siltation, we suggest terrace farming and reforestation in the soil erosion area hot spots.
Highlights
Soil erosion is a major contributing factor in dam siltation [1]
To avoid Ghiss dam siltation, we suggest terrace farming and reforestation in the soil erosion area hot spots
Regarding other watersheds in the Rif region: the annual soil loss in the Nekor watershed using the RUSLE model is more than 37.2 t∙ha−1∙yr−1 [38], according to the RUSLE 3D model
Summary
In Morocco, soil erosion rates for a basin area of 71 million hectares are 1.408 t∙ha−1∙yr−1, which has led to dam siltation and the reduction of the storage capacity of the dams by 0.56% every year [2], with negative economic (1 billion USD) (Tab. 1) and environmental consequences [2, 3]. Soil erosion is very high in the Rif region of Morocco, with rates sometimes reaching 30–60 t∙ha−1∙yr−1 [13, 14] In this context, our objective in this study is the estimation of soil loss in the Ghiss basin, and its impacts on the Ghiss dam siltation by integrating the universal soil loss equation (USLE) and geographic information system (GIS). Various data have been used in this model such as rainfall erosivity (R) factor, soil erodibility (K) factor, and use land cover data, cover, and management (C) factor, conservation practice (P) factor, slope length, and steepness (LS) factor, by integrating of all these factors, we can compute annual soil loss (t∙ha−1∙yr−1) in the Ghiss basin
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
