Groundwater-Dependent Ecosystems in the Souss-Massa River Region: An Economic Valuation of Ecosystem Services

Hirich, Abdelaziz; Choukr‐Allah, Redouane; Nrhira, Abdessadek

doi:10.1007/698_2016_73

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Indeed, the demands will be met by the uncontrolled withdrawal of water from groundwater resources. These findings are in line with Hirich et al (2017) and Seif-Ennasr et al (2017) who discuss the development of the Souss region resulting in increasing demand for irrigation and a major loss of groundwater reserves.…”

Section: Water Demandsupporting

confidence: 90%

Understanding the trade-offs between climate change-induced aridity and agricultural water demand in the Souss basin, Morocco

Attar,

Brouziyne,

Bouchaou

et al. 2024

Front. Water

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The concept of integrated water resource management requires an in-depth analysis of water inflows into a river basin. Population growth and the uncertainties associated with climate change are causing increased water stress and droughts, which are impacting agriculture. Hence the need for studies on the impact of climate change on demand-supply interactions in river basins. In this study, a generic decision support system, ModSim, was used; for the first time in the region; to examine the agricultural water usage and demands over Souss basin in Morocco. ModSim was calibrated over the period from 1990 to 2019 using recorded data about physical processes and hydraulic infrastructures features and management. The simulations succeeded in replicating different deficit episodes at the various irrigated perimeters. During the simulated period from 2012 to 2019, it was observed that the water supplies for the different dams in the basin experienced a decline ranging from 38% to 89%. As a result, the average total unmet demand for surface water from reservoirs in irrigated areas reached 201 mm3 between 1990 and 2019 and the monthly average demand increases by 55% in the dry season, compared to the demands in the rest of the year. The significant amount of unmet demand across all sites suggests that demands are satisfied by the withdrawal of water from groundwater resources. The adopted approach has proven to be a useful decision support tool to understand water resources planning challenges. Water managers require such reliable tools to represent the basin's water trade-offs. Thus, additional investigation to improve the representation of groundwater/surface water interaction approaches is required to enhance the evaluation of the consequences of different uses, especially in arid and semi-arid regions with significant water stress such as Souss. A conceptual framework as well as a detailed discussion have been produced in order to guide efficient water management and governance.

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Section: Water Demandsupporting

confidence: 90%

Understanding the trade-offs between climate change-induced aridity and agricultural water demand in the Souss basin, Morocco

Attar,

Brouziyne,

Bouchaou

et al. 2024

Front. Water

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“…Developing agricultural activities play an important role in the socioeconomic growth on both regional and national scales. However, this situation has increased the water demand for irrigation, which produce a significant depletion of groundwater reserves [6,76].…”

Section: Effects Of Global Change On Groundwatermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Additionally, a desalination plant for irrigation and domestic purposes will be built in the Chtouka zone to supply water for greenhouses growers (9000 ha at the beginning of the project run and 12,500 ha by 2035) and drinking water for Grand Agadir. Its objective is to meet an annual need of about 60 MCM of desalinated water at a rate of 1 MCM/day in the beginning of the project (end of 2020) and 1.5 MCM/day by 2035 [76,81]. This desalination plant will allow the region to compensate for a deficit of 60 MCM [1].…”

Section: Alternative Groundwater Resourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moroccan Groundwater Resources and Evolution with Global Climate Changes

et al. 2020

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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.

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Groundwater Resources Scarcity in Souss-Massa Region and Alternative Solutions for Sustainable Agricultural Development

Mansir¹,

Bouchaou

Choukr‐Allah

et al. 2017

Environmental Earth Sciences

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The Souss-Massa region, located in the south-west of Morocco, is among the regions that suffer the most from water stress. It's characterized by an arid climate with low and irregular rainfall in time and space. Consequently, there's a considerable rainfall deficit which negatively affects the water resources in the region. Moreover, the economy of the region is mainly based on agriculture which consumes more than 90% of the region's total water resources. As a result, surface water resources have become increasingly insufficient with regard to the demand. Use of groundwater resources has always been a secular practice in the area. In recent years, groundwater overexploitation has exceeded the renewable resources and has led to the depletion of the different aquifers of Souss-Massa region. In addition, high population growth, degradation of water quality, expansion of agricultural and industrial activity negatively affected water availability. Furthermore, a significant proportion of raw industrial and urban water rejections are released directly into nature, and excessive use of pesticides in agriculture and marine intrusion cause pollution and salinity of the groundwater. This study focuses on the vulnerability of groundwater resources and alternative solutions for agricultural development. This thematic allows the use of unconventional waters to test new techniques for the treatment and recycling of wastewater. Treated wastewater will be reused for irrigation in the Souss-Massa region, in order to reduce the vulnerability of water resources scarcity, to improve economic growth, to promote sustainable use of treated wastewater in agriculture and to produce good quality agricultural products.

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Groundwater-Dependent Ecosystems in the Souss-Massa River Region: An Economic Valuation of Ecosystem Services

Cited by 7 publications

References 6 publications

Understanding the trade-offs between climate change-induced aridity and agricultural water demand in the Souss basin, Morocco

Understanding the trade-offs between climate change-induced aridity and agricultural water demand in the Souss basin, Morocco

Moroccan Groundwater Resources and Evolution with Global Climate Changes

Groundwater Resources Scarcity in Souss-Massa Region and Alternative Solutions for Sustainable Agricultural Development

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