OICC Press Iranian Journal of Earth Sciences 2228-785X 15 1 2023 01 01 Potential impact of drought on Mikkes River flow (Morocco) 21 33 10.30495/ijes.2022.1943387.1668 EN Kaltoum Belhassan Independent researcher in Water Environment, Dewsbury WF13 4QP, West Yorkshire, UK Ashok Vaseashta International Clean Water Institute, Manassas, VA USA |Riga Technical University, Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Nanotechnologies, Riga, Latvia Mohammed Abdelbaset Hessane Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Immouzer Road, BP: 2626, Fez 30000, Morocco Hafizullah Rasouli Department of Geology, Geoscience Faculty, Kabul University, Jamal Mina 1006, Kabul, Afghanistan Mohammed KA Kaabar Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Washington State University, Pullman 99163, WA, USA Emad Kamil Hussein Mussaib Technical College, Al Furat Al Awsat Technical University, Mussaib P.O. Box 51006, Mussaib, Babil, Iraq Muhammad Adnan Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture, University of Sargodha, Pakistan Journal Article 2023 01 01 Mikkes River Basin is located in the north-center of the Kingdom of Morocco (North-West of Africa). It comprises of three different zones which represent diversified geologies and which shelter a phreatic and confined aquifer in Saïs plain and a shallow aquifer in El Hajeb Ifrane Tabular. This research aims to highlight the potential impact of drought on Mikkes River flow through climate indexes including rainfall, temperature and evapotranspiration during the period 1968-2009. Monitoring the evolution of rainfall, temperatures and evapotranspiration in the Mikkes basin during the period 1968-2009 shows that rainfall decreases, temperature and evapotranspiration increase from South to North of the basin (spatial drought). Also, these climatic indicators highlight a decrease in rainfall, increase in temperatures and evapotranspiration after 1980 (temporal drought). Flow deficit of Mikkes River between the period 1968-1979 and 1980-2009 is around 76%. This high River flow may due to the drought which the region has experienced since 1980 and also to the overexploitation of groundwater resources to satisfy water demands. The Mikkes basin is suffering severe depletion of groundwater piezometric levels, especially in the confined aquifer.