EXAMINING GROUNDWATER SUSTAINABILITY IN MOROCCO THROUGH A FIELD-CENTERED TRAINING PROJECT

Addressing challenges to groundwater sustainability requires an understanding of variability in groundwater occurrence, recharge, use, and quality. Toward this end, we have conducted a 3-year project of training U.S. students in hydrology and water resources (Dryland Recharge Assessment in Morocco (DReAM)). Morocco has an arid to subhumid climate that is prone to drought, and it is projected to be a hotspot for climate change. Agriculture represents almost 90% of water use and pumping of groundwater for irrigation has resulted in pronounced water-level declines.

Each “DReAM team” consisted of an annual cohort of 5 graduate and/or undergraduate students selected through a competitive application process. Participants included geology, environmental science, agriculture, civil engineering, and geography majors. Each program began with 2 months of virtual exercises in GIS and remote sensing, followed by a week of virtual lectures in hydrology, hydrogeology, and Moroccan culture. The central activity was a 4–5-week field program in May–June, which combined field measurements and geological observations with discussions of historic and current water management. Each group was based in Marrakech but traveled to various parts of Morocco, including the High Atlas, Middle Atlas, and Rif mountains and the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts. In the semi-arid to arid Tensift and Souss basins, students installed vertical thermistor arrays to examine infiltration rates beneath ephemeral stream channels, and examined tractive load deposits for paleoflood estimates. The groups measured hydraulic heads in wells and flow rates of springs, and sampled springs, wells, and surface-water bodies for field parameters, stable isotopes of water, and solutes. We viewed examples of water distribution systems in urban and rural settings, including traditional technologies (khettaras [qanats], seguias [canals], and fountains) and modern ones (e.g., dams). The program included meetings with staff from hydraulic basin and agricultural development agencies, farmers, and academics about water supply and use. Activities following field training have included virtual discussions in scientific communication, networking, and research ethics. Students are developing a GIS story map based on field activities and will coauthor publications with U.S. and Moroccan investigators.