Rainfall distribution and trends of the daily precipitation concentration index in northern Morocco: a need for an adaptive environmental policy

Abstract

A national priority at the Moroccan level is to understand the spatiotemporal rainfall irregularity to anticipate suitable strategies for water and agriculture management. The most northern mountainous region shows intense sensitivity to extreme hydroclimatic hazards which may compromise the future of socioeconomic acceleration and further weaken environmental balances. However, planning and decision making require accurate data, on a detailed scale and with good spatial distribution which is not the case in several south-Mediterranean countries where rainfall data and/or wellestablished hydro-meteorological network is lacking. In this paper, abundant rain gauge measurements combined with time-series open data (1958-2015) were used to study the rainfall variability. Results show an annual rainfall increase trend since 1996 with frequent, intense and abundant rains causing violent torrents and floods. This humid trend alternates with short but severe dry periods. Spatial distribution shows a rainfall increase from eastern to western area and from the coastal plains to high mountains. Based on a continuous daily rainfall dataset (from 1988 to 2012) from six scattered stations, it appears that the pattern of heavy and extreme wet days takes the form of an irregular interannual cycle. Trends of the annual precipitation daily concentration indicate a significant positive trend in the center than in the East of the study area. Considering these observations, a review of water needs/obligations priorities seems crucial so that a new conscious and adaptative environmental policy would approve new procedures for a sustainable management.

The local implications of a macrostrategy on the villagers and the environment

“…The pluviometric data was extracted from the spatialization of regional copious (53 stations) long-term (i.e. 30 years) rain gauge measurements together with open time-series (1958-2015) (Salhi et al, 2019). Land Surface temperature was estimated from Landsat 8 data using the NOAA JPSS Enterprise algorithm (Meng et al, 2019).…”

Assessment of Geosites in Northern Morocco: Diversity and Richness with Potential for Socioeconomic Development

“…The study area is of the biodiversity hotspots of the Mediterranean which, however, suffers an incessant process of degradation due to overexploitation and non-alignment of management and protection actions threatening several ecosystems and landscapes (Salah et al 2018;Salhi et al 2020). Over the past twenty years, it has witnessed an accelerating economic dynamism that has led to the growth of all productive sectors and a rapid increase in the regional gross domestic product (Salhi et al 2019). This dynamism was accompanied by major structural projects and high demand for investment projects, especially in industry, tourism and construction.…”

“…The climate of the study area is Mediterranean marked by long dry summers giving rise to several arid months (3 to 5 in average), with high water stress constraints, but potentially favourable to an extended touristic season (Salhi et al 2019). This potential should be carefully studied and managed within the values of ecological tourism not to break the fragile water balance.…”

The Role Of Artificial Impoundments In Improving Agricultural Production In The Semi-Arid Regions Of Northern Morocco

“…It is impossible to study the effect of the hydrological factor on the distribution of AIs without taking into consideration both climatic factors, particularly the factor of rain and snow precipitations, and hydrological factors. Concerning the climatic factors, the amount of rainfall in the TTA region varies significantly since precipitation generally decreases from west to east and registers its highest level (more than 1000 millimetres per year) in the centre (the province of Chechaouen) (Salhi et al 2019) due to the exposure of foothills to the Atlantic influences, which also coincides with the wide development of the AIs. Meanwhile, considering hydrological factors, the geological and geomorphological evolution has contributed to the extension of some groundwater aquifers, the most prominent of which are: «Dorsal Calcaire», R'Mel,Oued Lou,Sherf Elaqab.…”