@article{fdi:010094970,
  title = {{T}he proliferation of tiny irrigation tanks observed by remote sensing is in phase with groundwater depletion in {M}orocco},
  author = {{L}e {P}age, {M}ichel and {H}anich, {L}. and {B}enaabidate, {L}. and {E}l {H}azdour, {I}. and {E}l {O}uali, {A}. and {L}ahnik, {O}. and {M}ontginoul, {M}. and {M}oustadraf, {J}. and {F}errant, {S}ylvain and {R}houjjati, {A}. and {T}adderat, {H}. and {Z}ribi, {M}. and {J}arlan, {L}ionel},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{T}he intensification of irrigated agriculture in {M}orocco, coupled with a series of droughts, is leading to unprecedented groundwater depletion. {H}ighly incentive public policies have led to a significant increase in areas irrigated by drip irrigation in recent years. {T}his change in technique is accompanied by the digging of small reservoirs designed to store water the pumped on the farm. {T}his article aims to demonstrate that the number and surface area of these reservoirs are an indirect proxy of groundwater dynamic and, where appropriate, depletion. {U}sing time series of satellite observations, we count the number of tanks and estimate their area over four overexploited aquifers ({E}rrachidia, {H}aouz, {S}a{\¨ie}ss, and {Z}agora) with contrasted dynamics representative of the evolution of agricultural practices in {M}orocco. {T}he technique is applied over the period 2016-2023 to report on the annual evolution of those tanks. {T}he validation showed a very good accounting (r{RMSE} of -1.2 %) and an overestimation of the area (+14 %). {T}he striking increase of tanks in each aquifer is closely linked to the generalized water table drop. {N}evertheless, it is also observed that each aquifer has its own dynamics. {I}n the palm tree corridor of {E}rrachidia, the number of reservoirs has increased tenfold in those seven years. {I}n the {H}aouz and {S}a & iuml;ss aquifers, it has doubled. {I}n the {Z}agora region, the aquifer level is already dramatically low and the trend of irrigation tanks is towards stabilization, with as much abandonment as construction of tanks. {T}he method could help offset limited groundwater data and support monitoring and transparency-key elements of effective groundwater governance.},
  keywords = {{G}roundwater ; {I}rrigation ; {T}anks ; {M}orocco ; {R}emote sensing ; {MAROC} ; {ZONE} {SEMIARIDE} ; {ZONE} {MEDITERRANEENNE}},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{G}roundwater for {S}ustainable {D}evelopment},
  volume = {31},
  numero = {},
  pages = {101495 [16 p.]},
  ISSN = {2352-801{X}},
  year = {2025},
  DOI = {10.1016/j.gsd.2025.101495},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010094970},
}