Hydromorphological assessment in North Morocco: The case of Martil River

Abstract

The present study is about an assessment of the Martil River restoration, which crosses Tetouan and Martil city in Northern Morocco. The evaluation compromises rainfall occurrence of 30 years, riparian habitats, and the river flow of 12 years. The rainfall analysis was carried out by the Standard Precipitation Index (SPI). Only three stations that contain continuous monthly precipitation data were considered. The river health and water quality were determined by the QBR (Riparian Habitat Quality), while the environmental flow was estimated by Tennant method. SPI results show a rainfall increment pattern with regular, extreme, and plentiful downpours causing rough deluges and floods. The ultimate flow result to support the river habitats was found 60% of the natural flow in the main channel. This study highlights the stream’s unhealthy water, which falls within the low-quality water category downstream the river under anthropogenic pressure, while good to excellent quality was scored upstream the watershed. Tennant outcomes were discovered 2.40 m³/s as 30% and 5.51 m³/s as 60%, while 10% of the flow was found to be not adequate for habitats in the Martil River.