Ben Salem, S.; Ben Salem, A.; Karmaoui, A.; Yacoubi Khebiza, M. Vulnerability of Water Resources to Drought Risk in Southeastern Morocco: Case Study of Ziz Basin. Water 2023, 15, 4085, doi:10.3390/w15234085.
Ben Salem, S.; Ben Salem, A.; Karmaoui, A.; Yacoubi Khebiza, M. Vulnerability of Water Resources to Drought Risk in Southeastern Morocco: Case Study of Ziz Basin. Water 2023, 15, 4085, doi:10.3390/w15234085.
Ben Salem, S.; Ben Salem, A.; Karmaoui, A.; Yacoubi Khebiza, M. Vulnerability of Water Resources to Drought Risk in Southeastern Morocco: Case Study of Ziz Basin. Water 2023, 15, 4085, doi:10.3390/w15234085.
Ben Salem, S.; Ben Salem, A.; Karmaoui, A.; Yacoubi Khebiza, M. Vulnerability of Water Resources to Drought Risk in Southeastern Morocco: Case Study of Ziz Basin. Water 2023, 15, 4085, doi:10.3390/w15234085.
Abstract
water resources in Morocco have been severely influenced by climate change (CC) and pro-longed drought, particularly, in the pre-Saharan zone. The Tafilalet region faces increasing pres-sure due to high demographic growth, increased demand for water, excessive groundwater con-sumption, and investment in agriculture. Using the Water Evaluation and Planning System (WEAP), this study assessed land cover and elevation and created future scenarios using the Standard Precipitation Index (SPI) and Standard Groundwater Level Index (SGI) to monitor hy-droclimate drought conditions in the Ziz watershed from 1989 to 2022. Results show decreasing precipitation, particularly from 2010-2020, with the last four years being the most challenging (SPI<-2). SPI and SGI have a high correlation, suggesting precipitation impacts groundwater in-dicators. Future scenarios predict a high risk of CC, with a 30% decrease in annual precipitation accumulation by 2100 under the optimistic scenario SSP126. Minimum temperature is expected to increase by 1.08°C (SSP126) and 2.61°C (SSP585), and maximum temperature by 1.05°C (SSP126) and 2.93°C (SSP585). Keywords: Climate Change, Water Resources, SPI, SGI, WEAP, Ziz watershed, Drought
Keywords
Climate Change, Water Resources, SPI, SGI, WEAP, Ziz watershed, Drought
Subject
Environmental and Earth Sciences, Environmental Science
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
