Abstract
In semi-arid areas, many ecosystems and activities depend essentially on water availability. In Morocco, the increase of water demands combined to climate change induced decrease of precipitation put a lot of pressure on groundwater. This paper reports the results of updating and evaluation of groundwater datasets with regards to climate scenarios and institutional choices. The continuous imbalance between groundwater extraction and recharge caused a dramatic decline in groundwater levels (20 to 65 m in the past 30 years). Additionally, Morocco suffers from the degradation in groundwater quality due to seawater intrusion, nitrate pollution and natural salinity changes. Climate data analysis and scenarios predict that temperatures will increase by 2 to 4 °C and precipitation will decrease by 53% in all catchments over this century. Consequently, surface water availability will drastically decrease, which will lead to more extensive use of groundwater. Without appropriate measures, this situation will jeopardize water security in Morocco. In this paper, we zoom on the case the Souss-Massa basin, where management plans (artificial recharge, seawater desalination, and wastewater reuse) have been adopted to restore groundwater imbalance or, at least, mitigate the recorded deficits. These plans may save water for future generations and sustain crop production.
Highlights
In arid and semi-arid regions, large aquifer systems are often overexploited and used as an additional water source for different needs [1,2]
Groundwater budgets show that a total of 4226 million cubic meter (MCM) of water is extracted annually, against a renewal potential of about 3404 MCM (Table 1)
50 MCM/year of treated wastewater is provided for multiple uses and can offset negative impacts of water scarcity. This alternative resource could be used for agriculture and the watering of green areas, artificial recharge, forest irrigation and artificial wetlands. With these new alternatives of groundwater resources, the Souss-Massa region will be more effectively managed and the problems associated with water scarcity, climate change and salinization will be mitigated
Summary
In arid and semi-arid regions, large aquifer systems are often overexploited and used as an additional water source for different needs (e.g., source of drinking water for both urban and rural centers) [1,2]. Morocco is a semi-arid Mediterranean country with scarce and irregular precipitation; surface water and groundwater resources are important for socio-economic development [4] For this reason, aquifers are intensively exploited to satisfy growing agricultural, industrial, tourism and domestic needs [5,6,7]. The Souss-Massa and Drâa basins represent typical cases and are strongly impacted by climate variability and anthropogenic activity, and subject to high variations on many scales [6,8,10,12,13,14] In these basins, the most important issues that affect groundwater recharge in these basins include the intermittent flow of rivers, decreasing capacity of reservoirs, water release from dams, removal of groundwater through pumping, soil salinity in irrigated areas, overgrazing, deforestation and the spread of an epiphytic fungal disease (Bayoud disease) in the palm date [15]. This study (1) provides an overview of groundwater management in Morocco using recent scientific results and the outcome of governmental and non-governmental investigations, (2) reports the impact of global change on groundwater in the most arid basins in Morocco and (3) describes the National Water Strategy (NWS) and adaptations proposed by the Moroccan government
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