Abstract
Many coastal aquifers have experienced seawater intrusion (SWI) into fresh groundwater aquifers. The principal causes of SWI include over-pumping and events such as climate change (CC) and rising sea levels. In northern Morocco, the Rmel-Oulad Ogbane coastal aquifer (ROOCA) supplies high-quality groundwater for drinking water and agriculture. This favorable situation has led to increased pumping, resulting in environmental challenges such as dropping water table and SWI. Furthermore, the climate has resulted in less recharge, with an estimated annual precipitation of 602 mm and an average temperature of 18.5 °C. The goal of this study is to determine how CC, over-pumping, and sea-level rise (SLR) affect SWI. Computational groundwater and solute transport models are used to simulate the spatial and temporal evolution of hydraulic heads and groundwater solute concentrations. The calibration is based on steady and transient groundwater levels from 1962 to 2040. SWI simulations show that the NW sector of the coastal area would be polluted, with the toe reaching 5.2 km inland with a significant salinity (15–25 g/L). To protect the fresh water in the reservoir from SWI, enhanced groundwater development and management approaches for this aquifer are required, such as artificial recharge from surface water.
Highlights
Seawater intrusion (SWI) is a worldwide problem that has been exacerbated by rising sea levels, climate change (CC), and excessive over-pumping (EOP) of coastal fresh groundwater (GW) resources
This region is bounded to the west by the Atlantic Ocean along a 20 km band, a succession of hills of Prerifan geological formations to the east, Mio-Pliocene marl outcrops to the southeast, and a risen bottom that acts as a water divide line between the Rmel-Oulad Ogbane coastal aquifer (ROOCA) and the Dradere-Soueire aquifers to the south [48]
There is a need for tools that can guide and assist the manager in decision-making regarding the use, management, and planning of water resources. These decision support elements are provided by efficient technical tools such as geographic information system (GIS), geostatistical analysis, and conceptual and mathematical models, as developed in this research
Summary
Seawater intrusion (SWI) is a worldwide problem that has been exacerbated by rising sea levels, climate change (CC), and excessive over-pumping (EOP) of coastal fresh groundwater (GW) resources. More than 3 million Moroccans live in Morocco’s coastal areas, and this figure is gradually increasing [2]. A probabilistic numerical model was built to predict the extent of saltwater intrusion into a coastal phreatic aquifer by Felisa et al [17]. The effects of aquifer bed slope and seaside slope on saltwater intrusion were investigated by Abdelhamid et al [19] to examine the movement of the dispersion zone under different settings of bed and seaside slopes, and a numerical model (SEAWAT)
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