Study Reveals Water Scarcity and Quality Concerns in Southeastern Morocco

The study, which is the result of a partnership between the Faculty of Science and Technology of the University Moulay Ismail of Errachidia, the University of Poitiers and the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) in France, also highlighted the problem of the quality of groundwater used as drinking water and for irrigation.

According to this study, surface waters, "in their vast majority, do not reach the groundwater due to intense evaporation". This leads to water scarcity, the consequences of which are enormous for economic activities. To address this problem, the study proposes the implementation of "reasoned" water management in all water-stressed areas, in order to avoid crises.

The quality of the usable water for the population is also addressed in this study, which underlines the pronounced use of groundwater in the southern Moroccan region. "The accelerated evolution of needs, the multiplicity of users (agriculture, drinking water, industries) are increasingly leading to an imbalanced exploitation of aquifers and their quantitative and qualitative degradation," the study demonstrates.