The Fez-Meknes basin consists geomorphologically of the Meknes plateau to the west and the saïss plain to the east, separated by the Ain Taoujtat flexure. It is characterized by a semi-arid climate. Hydrogeologically, the basin contains two important aquifer reservoirs, a free and a captive water table. The first one circulates in the Plio-Villafranchian formations, while the second one is deep in the dolomitic limestone of the Lias. These two aquifers communicate with each other in some places, either directly through flexures and faults or indirectly through upward drainage. They are the main sources of drinking water and irrigation. These two aquifers have been overexploited due to successive years of drought and agricultural use. Thus, this work aims to monitor the piezometric level of the free water table through several field trips, technical data sheets of the drillings, geological and topographical maps. The analysis of rainfall data in the stations located around the piezometers in the study area allowed to distinguish a low water period (June, July, August and September) and a high-water period (March, April and May). The piezometric maps were made on the basis of the comparison between kriging and TIN during the low and high-water period. The TIN method has been recommended as the most reliable one.
The present study aims at mapping areas vulnerable to water erosion based on the Priority Activity Program/Regional Activity Center (PAP/CAR) model guidelines, geomatics, remote sensing, and GIS in the Errachidia-Boudenib Cretaceous basin. This basin is located in south-eastern Morocco and covers an area of 13 000 km2, the basin is 320 km long and 75 km wide. The method of estimating water erosion is composed of three phases; a predictive phase consisting of a mapping of predisposing factors such as slope, substrate, and/or soils and vegetation cover, a descriptive phase based on the mapping of actual erosion, and an integration phase to arrive at the identification and evaluation of the erosion risk. The mapping of areas vulnerable to water erosion indicates that 70% of the studied basin has low erodibility and 22% is notable, while only 8% has high to very high erodibility. The areas most affected by degradation are located at the end of the basin and correspond to lands with steep slopes (>35%). Consequently, this study has allowed us to locate certain sectors and roads that may be affected by this type of erosion, namely the mountainous areas of the High Atlas and roads numbered R13, R601, R 703, and P7106.
Like most of the countries of the African continent and the MENA, Morocco has experienced alternating wet and dry periods for several decades and is still confronted with the effects of unstable climate change due to the specificities conferred by its geographical position and the diversity of its ecosystems. It is one of the countries most affected by desertification, with an arid and semi-arid climate covering more than 93% of its territory. Indeed, the Upper Moulouya watershed has been exposed to severe droughts several times in recent decades. The spatial and temporal distribution of drought episodes in this watershed is studied over a 91-year period between 1931 and 2022. In order to characterize and evaluate the severity and sustainability of drought in this watershed, four indices were used and applied in this study, as they have advantages in terms of statistical consistency and have the capacity to describe, through different time scales (short, medium and long) the impacts of the climatic drought in question. These are the Standardized Precipitation Index SPI, RDI, RI and DI. The annual rainfall series at the eight meteorological stations of the said watershed show irregularities and very marked spatial and temporal variability with a generally decreasing trend. The SPI calculation results obtained show a heterogeneous distribution of SPI values throughout the watershed area. The analysis of the graphical illustrations of this index allowed to highlight an important fluctuation of the dry and wet periods with a strong dominance and tendency to drought with the order of 51% in the stations of Midelt, and Ansegmir, 52% in the station of Zaida, 59% in the stations of Tabouazant, Barrage (Dam) Enjil and El Aouia, 58% in the station of Louggagh, 47% in the station of Anzar Oufounes. The analysis of the results of the of the drought indices RDI, RI and DI at the level of this watershed also made it possible to highlight the existence of numerous drought sequences alternating with other wet sequences and indicates a dominance of dry years, perfectly remarkable during the period 1976-93. The most important dry episode, in number of successive years, was recorded at the Ansegmir station from 1976-89 and the most important rainy episode was recorded at the Midelt station from 1966-76. The years of the 2015-2022 series show an overall persistent decrease in rainfall, thus allowing the installation of a severe drought episode. The trend in the entire watershed is a decrease in rainfall and the installation of mild, moderate and severe drought episodes of varying length and duration.
JavaScript jest wyłączony w Twojej przeglądarce internetowej. Włącz go, a następnie odśwież stronę, aby móc w pełni z niej korzystać.