7-6 Indigenous water management under global changes: The dilemma of the modernization of water technologies in the Moroccan arid landscapes.

Session: A Change in Focus for Sustainability in Geoscience Education

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Abstract:

The oases of southern Morocco have historically endured extreme aridity and water scarcity, conditions that have shaped intricate patterns of tribal and ethnic migration for centuries. In response, local communities developed adaptive and sustainable water management systems, most notably the Khettara (or Qanat), rooted in collective knowledge, values, and traditions passed down through generations. This system sustained a long-standing harmony between people and nature by enabling groundwater use without exceeding the natural recharge capacity of aquifers. However, in the post-colonial era, this balance has been increasingly disrupted by shifts in water allocation policies and the spread of modern, individualistic technologies. This study examines the transformations affecting the Khettara system in the Tafilalet oasis ecosystem, along with its associated environmental, socio-economic, and cultural impacts. Findings reveal that the widespread adoption of motorized and later solar-powered pumping technologies since the 1970s has led to the overexploitation of shallow aquifers, many of which are also accessed by traditional Khettara. As a result, the erosion of collective governance and labor structures, once central to Khettara operation, has deepened social inequalities, fostered individualism, and left many families dispossessed of their water rights, facing poverty and, in some cases, forced migration. In response, recent initiatives have begun exploring the integration of Khettara into eco-tourism and heritage promotion as a potential framework for engaging indigenous youth in their restoration and long-term maintenance. However, these efforts remain constrained by the growing imbalance between groundwater recharge and abstraction, driven by successive dry seasons and the expansion of cash crop agriculture, which limits the viability of such initiatives to a few oases with significant touristic appeal. As such, promoting the Khettara must go beyond the risk of “Disneylandisation,” where the system is preserved merely for its aesthetic value, detached from its original function as a model of water management that once sustained socio-economic stability in a harsh environment.  

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Program. Vol. 57, No. 6, 2025

doi: 10.1130/abs/2025AM-6153

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