Characterization and Quantification of Meteorological Drought in the Oued El-Abid Watershed, Central High Atlas, Morocco (1980-2019)

Abstract

The present study is focused on analysis of rainfall in the Oued El-Abid watershed, which is characterized by an important potential in water supply of the Bin El Ouidane dam and the recharging groundwater of the plains downstream. The aim of the present research is to characterize the meteorological drought in the Oued El-Abid watershed, located in the Beni Mellal-Khenifra region (Central High Atlas, Morocco). The study focused on the analysis of the meteorological drought detection indices such as the deviation from the mean (DM), the rainfall index (RI) and the standardized precipitation index (SPI) based on annual precipitation for the three stations (Tilouguit, Ait Ouchen and Tizi N'Isli) generally experienced alternating periods of surplus and deficit. The results of these indices allowed us to determine the most remarkable and common drought years are: 1981, 1983, 1990, 1998, 2001, 2005, 2017 and 2019. This study is helpful for water resource managers to make decisions and develop tools for adaptation and mitigation of climate change impacts.