M. El MOULAT1, A. FEKRI1, A. E. FRYAR2, A. M. MILEWSKI3 and R. GLOAGUEN4
1 Department
of Geology, Faculty of Sciences Ben M'sik Casablanca, Morocco. Email: m.elmoulat@gmail.com and ahmedfekri1@gmail.com
2 Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Kentucky. Email: alan.fryar@uky.edu
3 Department of Geology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602. Email :milewski@uga.edu
4 Institute for Geology, Freiberg University of Mining and Technology, 09599, Freiberg, Germany. Email : gloaguen@geo.tu-freiberg.de
In the area of Morocco known as the
Lower Chaouia occurs in a hard rock terrain,
especially the Precambrian quartzite and
fractured
schist.
The
groundwater
resources are poorly known, and the search
for water is randomly treated.
To overcome this problem, we developed
a map of groundwater potential which will
guide the mobilization of additional
resources
to
meet
the
growing
demand for water; for irrigation as well as for
domestic purposes.
Remote sensing, image processing and GIS
provide many required data to cover
a large area in short time. Thanks to Those
efficient tools, various maps have been
designed such as the lineaments, drainage,
soil type, slope, elevation and the lithology.
The groundwater availability is qualitatively
classified into five classes (Excellent, good,
moderate, poor and nil).
 Delineate the groundwater potential zones
using relevant data (lineaments, drainage, soil
type, slope, elevation and the lithology ),
 Develop a GIS model that can identify
groundwater potential zones based on the
thematic
maps
applicable
across
Lower Chaouia.
Remotely sensed data from satellite imagery provided information used to identify and outline geology, lineament features, geomorphological and hydromorphogeological conditions. These features served
as either direct or indirect indicators of groundwater occurrence. The comprehensive use of GIS resulted in the development of an efficient and effective methodology of spatial data management and
manipulation. The integration and analysis of various thematic maps and image data were useful for the delineation of zones of groundwater potential and zones of groundwater quality suitable for
domestic purposes.