Surface water-groundwater interactions in the Wadi Mikkes basin, Morocco

The Wadi Mikkes basin is located in the centre-north of Morocco. it comprises three distinct zones presenting diversified geology, and contains phreatic and confined aquifers in the Sais basin and a shallow aquifer in the tabular Middle Atlas. The basin has a roughly oceanic climate supported by groundwater. The large decrease in water level in the aquifers of the Mikkes basin observed since the beginning of the 1980s is probably duo to the combined effect of drought and overexploitation. This, in turn, has an influence on springs and wadi flow. For the Sais groundwater, the positive correlation and the proximity of temporal fluctuation curves between the river flow and the piezometric level outside flood periods, suggest a supply drainage relationship between the aquifer :And the river. The resemblance between the graph of the variations in piezometric level of the groundwater and that of the deep groundwater leads us to suppose that there is a hydraulic connection between the deep groundwater and the river. However, due to very strong infiltration within the tabular Middle Atlas, it was not possible to demonstrate a positive correlation between river levels and the groundwater.