Impacts of COVID-19 lockdowns on water quality along the coast of Morocco

Abstract

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the marine activities and all the anthropogenic activities along the coast have been shut off for several months. The total suspended matter (TSM) was analyzed before and during COVID-19 lockdown in the coast of Morocco. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess all the changes reflected through the coast in April of 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021. In the absence of the ground observations during this period, the remote sensing data was used in this study. The results showed a gradual reduction in TSM concentration, indicating a positive improvement during the lockdown period. The TSM concentrations during this period decreased by 40.59% on average compared with the pre-lock-down period. Further, the turbidity in the water has reduced at each stretch of the rivers. Remote sensing is a powerful tool for analyzing turbidity over the whole littoral areas, even in the absence of field observations. The ongoing pandemic shows that an ocean with cleaner water is possible. These findings provide a general reference on the state of the Moroccan coast that could contribute to improve policy and future monitoring program.