Groundwater modeling in the Mediterranean area: case of the Gareb-Bouareg coastal aquifer (Rif, Morocco)
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(2020) 5:42
ORIGINAL PAPER
Groundwater modeling in the Mediterranean area: case of the Gareb‑Bouareg coastal aquifer (Rif, Morocco) Rachida Lyazidi1,2 · Mohamed Abdelbaset Hessane1 · Jaouad Filali Moutei2 · Mohammed Bahir3,4 Received: 13 September 2019 / Accepted: 4 July 2020 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Abstract The Gareb-Bouareg aquifer is located in northeastern Morocco. This aquifer extends continuously and expansively under the two plains of Gareb and Bouareg. The introduction of irrigated agriculture utilizing only surface water to these plains has resulted in an alarming rise in the level of the water table, leading to waterlogging and salinization, which have adversely affected crop growth and rendered large areas of the plains unproductive. Therefore, a study of the water-table fluctuations in response to the agricultural development of this area was carried out. Two potential methods of lowering the water table of the brackish alluvial aquifer—the installation of subsurface and deep drainage networks—were proposed. Due to a lack of sufficient data at the local scale (agricultural parcels), it was not possible to simulate the functioning of the agricultural drainage system, so a regional MODFLOW model based on a hydrodynamic modeling approach was used to determine the optimal method of lowering the groundwater level and preventing it from rising above safe levels, thus preserving the quality of the soil and improving growing conditions for crops. After successful calibration and validation of the model, several pump-draining scenarios were simulated to evaluate their impacts on the water table in an area of the plains that suffers from waterlogging. The results for the most realistic scenario revealed that pump draining performed via 10 wells at a rate of 30 l/s per well (i.e., 300 l/s overall) would lower the water table by a maximum of 5.42 m, which would approximate its original level before the water table began to rise due to irrigation. The zone sensitive to this abstraction process would cover an area of approximately 14 km2. This technique could be improved by reducing inflows through the use of water-saving irrigation practices and/or applying corrective measures to increase groundwater outflows, which would eventually be demineralized. Keywords Gareb-Bouareg coastal aquifer · Moulouya river basin · MODFLOW groundwater flow model · Groundwater modeling system (GMS) · Irrigation system network · Pump draining · Waterlogging · Morocco
Introduction Communicated by João Miguel Dias, Chief Editor. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s41207-020-00181-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Mohammed Bahir [email protected] 1
Faculty of Sciences Dhar El Mehraz, Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, 30050 Fes, Morocco
2
Direction de la Recherche et de la Planification de l’Eau (DRPE), Rabat, Morocco
3
IWRI, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Hay My Rachid, 43150 Ben Guerir, Morocco
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