Faire-face aux changements ensemble (FACE) : mieux s’adapter aux changements climatiques au Canada et en Afrique de l’Ouest dans le domaine des ressources en eau - rapport final

Vu la fin prématurée du projet initial, un court nouveau projet intitulé « Les leishmanioses canines: réévaluation des transmissions, prophylaxie et indicateur épidémiologique en sante publique », sous la direction du professeur Abdelkbir Rhalem, Laboratoire de Parasitologie et des zoonoses parasitaires de l’Institut Agronomique et Vétérinaire Hassan II au Maroc, en collaboration avec le ministère de la santé (Dr Abderrahmane Laamrani El Idrissi, Chef de Service des Maladies parasitaires) a été amorcé en janvier 2015. Ce projet vise (1) à évaluer le rôle réservoir du chien pour des parasites du genre Leishmania sp. responsables chez l’homme de la forme viscérale (L.infantum) et les formes cutanées (L.infantum Mon- 24 et L. tropica) et (2) à utiliser le modèle chien comme indicateur de santé publique pour déterminer les conditions de transmission de la maladie et son évolution (prévalence et incidence). La première phase s’est terminée avec succès et la deuxième phase est amorcée (rapport prévu fin 2016)

Dam effect on groundwater characteristics from area under semi-arid climate: case of the Zerrar dam within Essaouira basin (Morocco)

Morocco has 140 large dams with a total capacity of 17 Gm3. The amount of potential fresh water is decreased by sedimentation of clays and/or soil in the dam’s reservoirs. It is estimated at 70 million m3, surface evaporation and water loss by the banks and foundations. In this study, the environmental stable and radioactive isotopes together with geochemical and piezometric data were used to assess the impact of Zerrar dam on groundwater in Essaouira basin (western Morocco). The water facies has been determined and has evolved from Na–Cl type (before the establishment of the dam) to Mg–Cl and Ca–Cl type (after establishment). The dissolution of evaporates and ion exchange reactions are the main processes affecting groundwater composition. Groundwater level has been measured and shows a decline. 2H–18O diagram revealed that the aquifer recharge has assured by precipitation of oceanic origin without evaporation and by infiltration from Ksob Wadi. 3H and 14C content shows that this recharge is generally recent and the age of the waters ranges between modern and 2.3 BP (ka). However, the Zerrar dam indirectly influences the groundwater quality of the study area, because this one decreases the flow of the Ksob Wadi that is the main recharge source of the aquifer during rainfall. In addition, this Wadi flow suffers the effect of climate change, which decreases the flow of the Ksob Wadi (river) that adds to the effect of the dam

Downscaling of Open Coarse Precipitation Data through Spatial and Statistical Analysis, Integrating NDVI, NDWI, Elevation, and Distance from Sea

This study aims to improve the statistical spatial downscaling of coarse precipitation (TRMM 3B43 product) and also to explore its limitations in the Mediterranean area. It was carried out in Morocco and was based on an open dataset including four predictors (NDVI, NDWI, DEM, and distance from sea) that explain TRMM 3B43 product. For this purpose, four groups of models were established based on different combinations of the four predictors, in order to compare from one side NDVI and NDWI based models and the other side stepwise with multiple regression. The models that have given rise to the best approximations and best fits were used to downscale TRMM 3B43 product. The resulting downscaled and calibrated precipitations were validated by independent RGS. Aside from that, the limitations of the proposed approach were assessed in five bioclimatic stages. Furthermore, the influence of the sea was analyzed in five classes of distance. The findings showed that the models built using NDVI and NDWI have a high correlation and therefore can be used to downscale precipitation. The integration of elevation and distance improved the correlation models. According to R2, RMSE, bias, and MAE, the study revealed that there is a great agreement between downscaled precipitations and RGS measurements. In addition, the analysis showed that the contribution of the variable (distance from sea) is evident around the coastal area and decreases progressively. Likewise, the study demonstrated that the approach performs well in humid and arid bioclimatic stages compared to others

Continuous modelling of the Bouregreg watershed (Morocco) using the HEC-HMS model

A deep understanding of the rainfall-runoff mechanism is essential to estimate the runoff generated in a given basin. In this regard, this paper aims to develop a continuous hydrological model of the Bouregreg watershed. The objective of this modelling is to evaluate the inflow to the Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah (SMBA) dam, located at the outlet of this basin. To this end, using the HEC-HMS model, the Soil Moisture Accounting (SMA) Loss Method was used to model infiltration losses. The SCS Unit hydrograph (SCS UH) and the Recession method were chosen as transform model and baseflow model, respectively. As a result, the comparison shows an acceptable agreement between observed and simulated flow in terms of streamflow distribution and peak values (NSE=0.57, R2=0.58). During validation, the model retained its ability to sufficiently reproduce the rainfall-runoff mechanism of the studied basin with a slight overestimation of peaks (NSE=0.61, R2=0.60). This study allows to assess and predict the inter-annual and intra-annual variation of the SMBA dam reservoir’ inflows, and therefore to forecast the climate change impact on this basin

Climate Change Observations and Trends Overview: Focus on Morocco With a Case-Study of A Future Reservoir’s Response to Climate Change

Climate change impacts are being unequivocal on societies, natural resources and economic development. Observations and trends of climate features have been tackled by many scientists through analysis of historical series of temperature and precipitation and projections of theses parameters and of their extremes under different scenarios. This paper gives an overview of climate change observations and trends based on some latest works with focus on impacts on water resources and specifically in Morocco belonging to a vulnerable continent to climate change and to the Mediterranean region qualified as a “hot spot”. A case-study from Sebou Basin was conducted through an assessment of water supply from a future reservoir for different sizes under climate change scenarios for the mid and end of the 21st century. Simulations of the future multi-objective dam showed a decrease of total average supply between 9% to 12% for the mid-term scenario and 20% to 27% for the long-term scenario. The biggest size was found to have better reliability permitting approaching the fulfillment of all water needs for the log-term. Some adaptation options are recommended in occurrence water demand management, reservoir operation optimization and raising users „awareness and participation in climate change adaptation

Justification criteria for Inter-Basin Water Transfer Projects

When implemented on a large scale, Interbasin Water Transfer (IBWT) projects are one of the most significant human interventions in natural environmental processes. Although water transfer might have considerable beneficial impacts, it produces inevitably other adverse effects on different levels. The present work aims to assess the phenomenon of IBWT to answer the question of whether such transfers are justified or not. To this end, this paper is first introduced by reviewing criteria proposed by some international organizations and epistemic communities for assessing IBWT. Then, a coherent set of IBWT evaluation criteria are proposed. Afterward, the authors have applied the chosen criteria to the North-South Water Transfer Project (NSWTP) in Morocco to provide a global assessment. The results show that the NSWTP, in its current version, is not justified. To remedy the negative sides of this project, the authors propose to limit the water transfer only between Sebou (donor) and Bouregreg (recipient), all in increasing the storage capacity of the recipient reservoir. On the other hand, studies related to the legal and institutional sides, and the ecological impacts are to be finalized

Étude de sensibilité des paramètres du modèle EPASWMM. Cas du bassin expérimental de la ville de Tanger

Les débits des eaux pluviales en zone urbaine conditionnent largement la conception et le dimensionnement des ouvrages d'assainissement suite à l'accroissement de l'urbanisation des villes. Par conséquent, la maitrise des paramètres des modèles de détermination des débits des eaux pluviales est un facteur déterminant pour l'optimisation des coûts d'investissement de ces ouvrages d'assainissement. Le modèle de transformation pluie-débit en zone urbaine utilisé est le modèle à réservoir non linéaire de SWMM. Ce modèle fait appel à de nombreux paramètres dont le calage devient délicat en raison de leur nombre important. Ainsi, des tests de sensibilité des paramètres du modèle s'avèrent nécessaire pour sélectionner ceux affectant les débits de pointe résultants. Cette opération permettra de réduire le nombre de paramètres du modèle à caler. Les paramètres ayant fait l'objet de tests de sensibilité comprennent les valeurs de stockage dépressionnaire pour les zones perméables et imperméables, le coefficient de manning pour les zones perméables et imperméables, le coefficient d'imperméabilité et la largeur de drainage. Les tests de sensibilité reposent sur la variation des valeurs des paramètres précités par rapport aux valeurs de référence. Ces dernières sont déterminées en fonction des caractéristiques du sol et les évènements pluie-débit observés. Une deuxième approche a été adoptée. Il s'agit de la méthode d'Analyse en Composante Principale « ACP » dont les résultats d'analyse des composantes ont été confrontés avec les résultats des tests de sensibilité. Une application est faite sur le bassin expérimental « place du Maroc » situé dans la ville de Tanger au Maroc. Les résultats des tests de sensibilité ont permis de classer la largeur de drainage en premier rang suivie du coefficient d'imperméabilité et du coefficient de manning pour les zones imperméables comme facteurs déterminants des débits résultants. Ces tests de sensibilité ont montré aussi que la variation de la largeur de drainage et le coefficient de manning pour les zones imperméables affectent plus les débits dans le sens décroissant des périodes de retour tandis que la variation du coefficient d'imperméabilité les influence plus dans le sens croissant des périodes de retour. Tous ces résultats ont été confirmés par la méthode d'analyse multivariée d'ACP