article · Groundwater for Sustainable Development
In arid coastal areas such as the Al Hoceima province in northeastern Morocco, groundwater supplies are critical resources for local populations. Investigations into the Ghiss-Nekkor aquifer evaluated groundwater quality and identified the sources driving rising salinity. An assessment using hydrogeochemical and statistical methods revealed that most surveyed wells exhibit elevated salinity levels exceeding two grams per litre, with variations related to water flow directions. The dominant chemical profiles in the water are sodium chloride and sodium sulphate types, showing that natural rock-water interactions, specifically the dissolution of halite, represent the primary driver of mineralisation. Alongside this natural process, human and agricultural influences also impair water quality. Infiltration from septic waste, return flows from crop irrigation, and localised seawater intrusion contribute substantially to the degradation of these freshwater reserves.
Coastal communities in arid regions rely heavily on underground reservoirs for drinking and agriculture. Identifying whether water salinity stems from natural mineral dissolution, marine intrusion, or human activity helps local managers recognise the exact pressures threatening their water supplies. This knowledge is essential for protecting vulnerable freshwater reserves against persistent contamination from sewage, farming runoff, and encroaching seawater.
The abstract does not indicate a commercialisation pathway, as it represents early-stage hydrogeochemical baseline research. The findings could be utilised by regional water authorities and environmental monitoring agencies to target remediation efforts and plan infrastructure, but specific commercial tools, products, or technology readiness levels are not discussed in the text.
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Seawater intrusion is one of the most severe problems confronting coastal aquifers. These aquifers are often considered significant freshwater sources, particularly in arid regions. The water resources mobilized at the Al Hoceima (Northeastern Morocco) come from the Ghiss-Nekkor aquifer and the Abdelkarim El Khattabi dam. The degradation of groundwater quality of the aquifer and the probability of marine intrusion has become a severe concern for the communities. The current study provides multidisciplinary research using hydrogeochemical and statistical approaches to evaluate groundwater quality and determine the origin of salinity in this aquifer. Depending on the direction of the water flow, he results indicate that most wells have a total salinity exceeding 2 g/L. The dominant chemical facies encountered are Na–Cl–Na–SO4 resulting from rock-water interaction, meaning that the breakdown of halite was the predominant source of groundwater mineralization. However, septic waste, water irrigation inflows, and locally seawater intrusion seem to substantially influence groundwater quality in this area.
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DOI: 10.1016/j.gsd.2022.100818
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