Water resources in Morocco have been severely influenced by climate change and prolonged drought, particularly in the pre-Saharan zone. The Ziz watershed faces increasing pressure due to the high demographic growth, increased demand for water, excessive groundwater consumption, and investment in agriculture. But how long will water resources withstand these problems? This study, therefore, enters into the context of the assessment of water resources and estimates their vulnerability using the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI), and Standardized Groundwater Index (SGI), on data from the Ziz watershed from 1986 to 2016. Additionally, climate projections were utilized to simulate the future SGI from 2017 to 2100. The Water Evaluation and Planning System (WEAP) was employed to evaluate changes in Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) during the period of 1992–2020, and to generate future scenarios for land class inflows and outflows from 2017 to 2100, in comparison to the reference period of 1986–2016, thereby incorporating the SSP climate scenarios. The results indicate that the Ziz Basin experienced significant drought events in 1986–1989 and 2000–2003. The SPI and SPEI significantly correlated with SGI in some monitoring wells and with specific accumulation periods. The LULC analysis showed an increase in agricultural land and urban land and a decrease in barren or sparse land. Climate data analysis and scenarios predict that under SSP5-8.5, minimum and maximum temperatures will increase by 2.61 °C and 2.93 °C, respectively, and precipitation will decrease by 30% over this century. This substantial shift in climate conditions is reflected in the decline in SGIs, especially in the long term under SSP5-8.5. Water availability will decrease during this century under SSP3-7.0 and SSP5-8.5, as reflected in reduced land class inflows and increased outflows. These findings emphasize the need for stakeholders to implement integrated water governance for sustainability in the Ziz watershed.

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

The Ziz Watershed is located in the arid zones of South-Eastern Morocco and belongs to the large basin of Ziz-Rheris. In this basin, floods are related to natural factors and mainly to the occupation of the hydraulic public domain and the human intervention on the courses of the rivers. Increases in sediment yield are observed in many places in the Ziz, dramatically affecting water quality and reservoir management. In order to map overland sediment generation and delivery to the stream (studying the service of sediment retention), the InVEST sediment delivery ratio (SDR) model was applied. The sedimentation analysis in the Hassan Dakhil Dam, located in this watershed, shows that there is a very important erosion rate. The proof is the rapid filling of the dam. This is due to the transport of sediments in the rivers. If this situation continues at the current rate, the dam will no longer be fully operational for irrigation by 2050.

Wetlands around the world face anthropogenic and climate pressures that threaten key ecosystem processes such as the water cycle. Such threats are most acute for non-perennial systems that rely on occasional surface water flows to maintain important ecological functions. This work will focus on the use of remote sensing within a cloud-based computing platform to assess the spatio-temporal evolution of Dayet Aoua through the development of a water transition map between 1984 and 2019. It is also question of detecting and spatializing the main drivers of the various challenges, mainly the land use changes operated. This study revealed that a combination of changes in climatic and land use change in the vicinity of the lake has recently affected the dynamic and the recovery capacity of Dayet Aoua. This study highlights the need to increase public awareness and decision-makers' knowledge concerning the relationship between land use change and wetlands degradation.

Agricultural, industrial, and domestic activities are major contributors to the contamination of natural environments. The aim of this study is to assess the level of sediment contamination by organic pollutants in three Moroccan lagoons: Moulay Bousselham, Oualidia, and Khnifiss. samples were...

The city of Marrakech is experiencing a very significant development in terms of urbanization which leads to a significant reduction of the agricultural activity and increase of the rate of metallic pollution in soils. The impact of this metallic pollution on the microbial activity in these soils can negatively affect the growth and the development of the date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L). In addition, the urbanization has direct effects on the degradation of palm groves in the Marrakech region, following a decrease in agricultural and forestry productivity after anthropogenic activities which are at the origin of high metallic trace element (MTE) contents in soils. In order to assess the impacts of this pollution, the authors carried out a study in the rhizospheric soils of the date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L) monitoring the levels of heavy metals (Pb, Zn). Eight sites were chosen: five urban sites (three gardens, two boulevards) and two peri-urban sites (palm groves).