The Hydrogeological Behavior of Springs in Face of Rainfall Fluctuations in the Plain of Fez and its Middle Atlas Border, Morocco

Abstract

The scarcity of water resources presents the most threatening risk and its effects are beginning to affect several regions of the planet. It cannot be denied that Morocco, due to its location in the south of the Mediterranean, has been affected by these climatic trends of which the plateau de Sais offers a good example by its location in the center of the country and by its wealth of superficial and groundwater resources. In recent decades, this plateau has experienced water stress, particularly in its groundwater reserves. It has been manifested by the decrease in flows from several springs or even total drying up in particular after successive periods of unusual drought, which marked the whole of the country after the 1980s. It is in this perspective this study aims to understand the behavior of the hydrogeological functioning of the springs located in the plain of Fez and its middle Atlas borders. Its geological complexity, as well as the abundance of carbonate rocks and the presence of volcanic basalt flowing from South to North have favored the resurgence of several springs of different flows and with a hydrological regime influenced according to the years and seasons by rainfall inputs. All these physical factors as well as human intervention on the hydrosystem through hydro-agricultural activities influence the behavior of the hydrological functioning of these springs.