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Climate change is the global phenomenon of climate transformation characterized by changes in the planet’s habitual climate. The main objective of this work is to assess and predict climate change for the 2015–2100 period, in the Boufakrane river watershed, Morocco. In this study, the Statistical DownScaling Model (SDSM) method has been used to generate the climate scenarios for rainfall and temperature related to Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) scenarios such as RCP 2.6, RCP 4.5, and RCP 8.5. For this purpose, the region’s annual, monthly, and daily rainfall records were analyzed. A rainfall index was calculated to differentiate and distinguish between dry and humid years of the climate series, and a non-parametric Pettitt’s test has been applied to determine the trend of precipitation series for the projection period. The application of Pettitt’s test with a confidence interval of 99% and a significance level of 0.05 shows a break in the 1979/80 rainfall series, with an average of 675.78 mm and 511.94 mm respectively before and after the break. The combined application of the two approaches of SDSM, and the non-parametric Pettitt test for the period 2015–2100, showed a downward trend of annual rainfall with 17.29% for RCP 2.6. While no trend was recorded for the two scenarios RCP 4.5, and RCP 8.5. Therefore, this study highlighted the importance and urgent need for developing strategies and decision-making plans for climate change adaptation for sustainable water resources management. Graphical Abstract

Together with geological survey data, satellite imagery provides useful information for geological mapping. In this context, the aim of this study is to map geological units of the Saka region, situated in the northeast part of Morocco based on Landsat Oli-8 and ASTER images. Specifically, this study aims to: (1) map the lithological facies of the Saka volcanic zone, (2) discriminate the different minerals using Landsat Oli-8 and ASTER imagery, and (3) validate the results with field observations and geological maps. To do so, in this study we used different techniques to achieve the above objectives including color composition (CC), band ratio (BR), minimum noise fraction (MNF), principal component analysis (PCA), and spectral angle mapper (SAM) classification. The results obtained show good discrimination between the different lithological facies, which is confirmed by the supervised classification of the images and validated by field missions and the geological map with a scale of 1/500,000. The classification results show that the study area is dominated by Basaltic rocks, followed by Trachy andesites then Hawaites. These rocks are encased by quaternary sedimentary rocks and an abundance of Quartz, Feldspar, Pyroxene, and Amphibole minerals.

Water is one of the fundamental resources of economic prosperity, food security, human habitats, and the driver of many global phenomena, such as droughts, floods, contaminated water, disease, poverty, and hunger. Therefore, its deterioration and its inadequate use lead to heavy impacts on environmental resources and humans. Thus, we argue that to address these challenges, one can rely on hydrological management strategies. The objective of this study is to simulate and quantify water balance components based on a hydrologic model with available data at the R’Dom watershed in Morocco. For this purpose, the hydrologic model used is the Soil and Water Assessment Tool + (SWAT+) model. The streamflow model simulations were run at the monthly time step (from 2002 to 2016), during the calibration period 2002–2009, the coefficient of determination (R2) and Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) values were 0.84 and 0.70, respectively, and 0.81 and 0.65, respectively, during the validation period 2010–2016. The results of the water balance modeling in the watershed during the validation period revealed that the average annual precipitation was about 484 mm, and out of this, 5.75 mm came from the development of irrigation in agricultural lands. The evapotranspiration accounted for about 72.28% of the input water of the watershed, while surface runoff (surq_gen) accounted for 12.04%, 11.90% was lost by lateral flow (latq), and 4.14% was lost by groundwater recharge (perco). Our approach is designed to capture a real image of a case study; zooming into other case studies with similar environments to uncover the situation of water resources is highly recommended. Moreover, the outcomes of this study will be helpful for policy and decision-makers, and it can be a good path for researchers for further directions based on the SWAT model to simulate water balance to achieve adequate management of water resources.

L'érosion hydrique et l'envasement des barrages au Maroc sont des problèmes environnementaux importants qui ont des conséquences négatives sur les ressources en eau et l'agriculture du pays. L’érosion est causée par plusieurs facteurs, tant naturelles qu'anthropiques, notamment l'agriculture intensive, la surexploitation des terres et les changements climatiques. Elle entraîne la dégradation de la qualité des sols, la perte de fertilité et la diminution de la productivité agricole. L'envasement des barrages est également un problème majeur environnemental important. Les barrages sont essentiels pour la gestion des ressources en eau et pour la fourniture d'eau pour l'agriculture et la consommation humaine. Cependant, l'envasement des barrages diminue leur capacité de stockage et peut causer des problèmes de sécurité hydrique. Le bassin versant de la Haute Moulouya situé à l’amont du barrage Hassan II, s’étend sur une surface de 3379 km² et un périmètre de 512 km. L‘objectif principal du présent travail est d’estimer les pertes en sol au niveau du bassin versant à l’amont du barrage Hassan II (Haute Moulouya, Maroc). La méthodologie adoptée est basée sur l’établissement des principales cartes thématiques permettant d’estimer les pertes en sol en utilisant le modèle de Wischmeier et de cartographier les zones vulnérables à l‘érosion. Les résultats obtenus montrent que le facteur d’érosivité (R) est en moyenne de 72,15 avec une valeur maximale de 99,16. Quant au facteur d’érodibilité des sols (K), il varie de 0,1 à 0,45 avec une moyenne de 0,27. Le facteur topographique (LS) varie de 0 à 322. Concernant le couvert végétal (C), On note une protection faible du sol à l’échelle du bassin. En effet, seulement 16,3% de la superficie du bassin versant se caractérise par une bonne protection de sol avec un facteur C inférieur à 0,01. L’étude a montré que la perte en sol moyenne du bassin est évaluée à 9,12t/ha/an, avec 11,24% de la superficie totale du bassin. Cette valeur correspond à une érosion moyennement faible. En plus, 82,7% de superficie du bassin versant est protégée contre l’érosion, où les pertes en sols sont inférieures à 7t/ha/an (le seuil de tolérance). La superficie soumise à de forte érosion de plus de 28t/ha/an, soit 6,5% de la superficie totale, est en grande partie très accidentée à forte pente avec un réseau hydrographique dense. Par conséquent, la topographie et le réseau hydrographique constituent les principaux facteurs explicatifs de la perte en sol. In Morocco, Water erosion and siltation of dams are significant environmental issues that have negative consequences on the country's water resources and agriculture. Erosion is caused by several factors, both natural and anthropogenic, including intensive agriculture, overuse of land, and climate change. It leads to the degradation of soil quality, loss of fertility, and reduced agricultural productivity. The siltation of dams is also a major environmental problem. Dams are essential for the management of water resources and for the supply of water for agriculture and human consumption. However, the siltation of dams decreases their storage capacity and can cause water security problems. The Upper Moulouya watershed located upstream of the Hassan II dam covers an area of 3379 km² and a perimeter of 512 km. The main objective of the present work is to estimate the soil losses in the watershed upstream of the Hassan II dam (Upper Moulouya, Morocco). The methodology adopted is based on the establishment of the main thematic maps allowing to estimate of the soil losses using the Wischmeier model and mapping the areas vulnerable to erosion. The results obtained show that the erosivity factor (R) is on average 72,15 with a maximum value of 99,16. As for the soil erodibility factor (K), it varies from 0,1 to 0,45 with an average of 0.27. The topographic factor (LS) varies from 0 to 322. Concerning the vegetation cover (C), There is low soil protection in the basin. Indeed, only 16,3% of the watershed area is characterized by good soil protection with a C factor lower than 0,01. The study showed that the average soil loss in the basin is estimated at 9,12t/ha/year, with 11,24% of the total basin area. This value corresponds to a medium-low erosion. In addition, 82,7% of the watershed area is protected against erosion, where soil losses are lower than 7t/ha/year (the tolerance threshold). The area subject to high erosion of more than 28t/ha/year, corresponding to 6,5% of the total area, is largely very hilly with a steep slope and a dense hydrographic network. Therefore, the topography and the hydrographic network are the main explanatory factors of soil loss.

Water quality index (WQI) is the primary method applied to characterize water quality in the world. The current study employed the statistical analysis and multilayer perceptron (MLP) approaches for predicting groundwater quality in the Ghiss-Nekkor aquifer, northeast of Al Hoceima, Morocco. Fifty sampled groundwater were identified and analyzed for major anions and cations throughout May 2019. Several physicochemical parameters of all the samples were identified in this investigation, such as TDS, pH, EC, Na, K, Ca, Mg, HCO3, NO3, Br, SO4, and Cl. The entropy-weighted groundwater quality index (EWQI) was calculated from these parameters. The WQI procedure determined the suitability of groundwater for consumption. The WQI value varied from 90.98 to 337.28. The EC, TDS, WQI, and Cl− spatial distribution showed that EC and Cl− are associated with poor groundwater quality. A single sample (W16) represented unsuitable water for drinking purposes and offered a WQI value of 337.28, indicating poor drinking quality due to seawater intrusion, overexploitation, and harsh weather conditions. The majority of the values obtained for the parameters exceeded the recommended limit of the World Health Organization (WHO)’s guidelines for consumption. The findings show that using parameters is a straightforward method for predicting water quality indexes with sufficient and suitable precision. The MLP model shows good predictive performances in terms of the coefficient of determination R2, mean absolute error (MAE), and root-mean-square error (RMSE) with values of 0.9885, 5.8031, and 4.7211, respectively. The ANN approach was applied to develop a model that can accurately predict WQI utilizing mineralization, TH, NO3, and NO2 as inputs. The MAE for the model’s performance was calculated to be 4.72. A Bland–Altman test was used to validate that the model is suitable. Following the test, it was determined that the model is appropriate for predicting WQI, with an error of just 0.1%.