Modeling of the Groundwater Flow and Saltwater Intrusion in the Coastal Aquifer of Fum Al Wad, Province of Laayoun, Morocco

Abstract

Saltwater intrusion caused by groundwater over-exploitation from coastal aquifers poses a severe problem in many regions. The Fum Al Wad aquifer is located between Atlantic Ocean in the West and Laayoun in the East. This aquifer covers an area of 250 Km 2 , and represents an essential water resource for Laayoun city and the periphery regions. It is heavily exploited for water supply, agriculture and industry. The freshwater-saltwater interface is affected by groundwater extraction by public supplies, irrigation wells, and domestic wells in the coastal of this aquifer. The position of the interface is controlled by several factors: these include precipitation, recharge rate, dryness, evapotranspiration, hydraulic conductivity and hydraulic head. Landward migration of the interface freshwater-saltwater often results in a significant decrease in the water resources available for coastal communities. The volume pumped by public for irrigation and the domestic usage in 2010-2011 is estimated 2.5 Mm

A review of groundwater sustainability crisis in the Pacific Island countries: Challenges and solutions

“…Due to continuous population growth and impaired water supply, future generations will have many challenges including the accessibility of clean and freshwater (Weinrich et al, 2012). Mokhtar et al (2018) studied the groundwater flow and SWI in Fum Al Wad coastal aquifer located in Laayoune (27.15° N, 13.19° W) and reported that the farmers using groundwater for irrigation and other purposes must be thoroughly informed of the serious issues associated with overexploitation and over pumping of groundwater. Maity et al (2018) reported that lack of awareness amongst farmers, unwilling involvement of the governing bodies and unavailability of other water sources in Purba Midnapur district (21.94° N, 87.78° E), poses major hurdles in implementing aquifer improvement plans.…”

Geophysical Contribution to the Determination of the Limit between Laayoune and Foum El Oued Aquifers, Origin of Supply Sources of Oued Sakia El Hamra, Laayoune Province, Morocco

“…The average thickness of the aquifer is of the order of 5 m with a water level located around 40 m deep. The water released from the aquifer is brackish with salinity close to 7 g/l [23].…”

Numerical Modeling of Saltwater Intrusion in the Rmel-Oulad Ogbane Coastal Aquifer (Larache, Morocco) in the Climate Change and Sea-Level Rise Context (2040)

“…Nowadays, numerical modeling technology is an important tool for GW analysis. CC impacts, computational GW flow, and transport modeling have been investigated in many regions around the world [20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29].…”