Karst groundwater vulnerability mapping to the pollution: Case of Dir springs located between EL KSIBA and Ouaoumana (High Atlas, Morocco)

L Alili,M R Maslouhi,A Boukdir,H Ikhmerdi,M El Mabrouki

doi:10.1051/e3sconf/20183701004

Abstract

The study area is located in the north of the province of Beni Mellal, it covers the Piedmont of the high Atlas between El Ksiba and Ouaoumana. It is characterized by a poorly developed hydrographic network and the presence of very important karstic forms. These forms condition the rapid infiltration to the karstic springs are the subject of this study. In this work we presented a method of mapping the vulnerability to pollution of Karstic springs located between El Ksiba and Ouaoumana. To do this, we have introduced a vulnerability index called F which takes into account four parameters (EPIK): Development of the Epikarst, importance of the protective cover, infiltration conditions and development of the Karst network. The overlay of the thematic maps of these parameters through a GIS software (ArcGIS) gave us a map of the vulnerability to contamination on the whole hydrogeological basin of the springs.

Highlights

The richness of agriculture, the population growth and the development of socio-economic activities are mainly due to the quantity and quality of the waters
In this work we present the method EPIK adapted for the first time in Switzerland and considered as the initial method adapted to the study and mapping of the intrinsic vulnerability in karstic environments, case of springs located between El Ksiba and Ouaoumana
The study area is located in the north of the province of Beni Mellal, it covers the piedmont of the mountain between El Ksiba and Ouaoumana

Summary

Introduction

The richness of agriculture, the population growth and the development of socio-economic activities are mainly due to the quantity and quality of the waters This increasingly growing development can generate negative impacts on the environment in general and on water resources in a particular way. In this work we present the method EPIK adapted for the first time in Switzerland and considered as the initial method adapted to the study and mapping of the intrinsic vulnerability in karstic environments, case of springs located between El Ksiba and Ouaoumana It is based on four criteria at stake, namely development of the Epikarst, importance of the protective cover, conditions of infiltration and development of the Karst network, with an indexing system for each of the criteria, a calculation of Weighting with fixed coefficients is carried out. This method is used to define a protection factor F using the calculation of the Elemental Criteria index classified as vulnerability slices

Description of the study area

Materials and methods

Results and Discussion

Conclusion