The impact of using modern irrigation techniques on the ancient Mougheul palm grove, South-West of Algeria

Abstract

To resist against a hostile environment, the oases of Saoura developed ingenious techniques of catchment and sharing of water to exploit the rare and precious waters of the groundwater. But the intervention of modern irrigation techniques has disrupted the entire oasis system inside the oasis such as the spring, the palm grove and the ksar. These techniques have overexploited the groundwater supplying the palm grove in terms of quantity and quality. For centuries, the oases of Mougheul used only the source (with a flow of 25 dm3∙s−1 in 2001) which is inside the oasis to irrigate the parcels and herds. After the year 2005, the state decided to supply the city of Bechar with drinking water through the catchment field of Mougheul through five modern boreholes, which had a profound impact on the oasis, its surroundings, and the whole artesian source. In this work, we study the impact of the use of modern catchment systems on the water source and the life of the Mougheul population. By interviewing farmers and landowners about the impact of groundwater scarcity on the oasis. This allowed knowing the current state of the oasis and the reasons for its deterioration.

Traditional oases in Northern Africa as multifunctional agroforestry systems: a systematic literature review of the provided Ecosystem Services and of the main vulnerabilities

“…These systems, probably originated in Iran (where are called qanat) are spread in many other countries with different names, as foggara in Algeria or khettara in Morocco. Different papers highlighted the need of preserving these traditional irrigation techniques as they are crucial for water regulation and for the overall sustainability of the system, but also for preserving the local identity (Benqlilou and Bensaid 2013;Remini et al 2011), while the introduction of modern irrigation can contribute to the disruption of the oasis system due to groundwater overexploitation (Rezzoug 2019). Also other traditional practices as circular agriculture including crop rotation, organic fertilization, integration with livestock and crop residue management, are considered important for preserving soil fertility, as demonstrated by El Janati et al ( 2021) for traditional oases in southeastern Morocco.…”

“…These problems can have different causes. The abandonment of traditional irrigation systems, as foggaras in Algeria, and the uncontrolled use of motor pumps can lead to an overexploitation and to an irrational use of water sources, with the consequent increase in groundwater salt concentration that can cause damages to the crops (Belhadj Elmehdi et al 2020;Rezzoug 2019). The spread of modern oases and of other cultivated land bordering traditional oases thanks to modern irrigation techniques (often without any planning) and consequent overexploitation and salinization of the aquifer is reported both for Southern Tunisia and for Figuig oasis in Morocco (Kamel 2013;Salgot et al 2014).…”

Journal of Water and Land Development

“…For centuries, farmers in Taghit exploit the groundwater of the Grand Erg Occidental and Wadi Zousfana inferflux to provide their basic water and food needs in a way that indicates their intelligence and inherited experience since generations. However, the intervention of modern irrational irrigation techniques leads to a significant imbalance in the oasis, which has suffered for generations and is unfolded its consequences day after day [REZZOUG 2019].…”