Application of the Environmental Vulnerability Index (EVI) in Ziz-Rheris Watershed, Morocco

R. Ouachoua¹ , J. Al Karkouri²

Section:Research Paper, Product Type: Journal-Paper
Vol.6 , Issue.9 , pp.1-9, Sep-2020

Online published on Sep 30, 2020

Copyright © R. Ouachoua, J. Al Karkouri . This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
 

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Abstract :
This study looked at the Environmental Vulnerability Index (EVI) for the Ziz-Rheris Basin (Southeastern Morocco). Based on the EVI developed by the South Pacific Applied Geosciences Commission (SOPAC), the vulnerability index was determined for anthropogenic, meteorological, biological and geological events and for general basin characteristics. An information processing was carried out by the tools provided by SOPAC for the analysis of data obtained from the available documents. This data was then used to calculate the values of environmental indicators in accord with SOPAC guidelines. The results of the research revealed that the Ziz-Rheris basin scored relatively highly on the EVI scale. Although most indicators received scores of “4” or higher, some indicators received grades of lower than “4”, but still indicating high vulnerability. It was found also, that the indicators with the highest scores were mainly anthropogenic or could be attributed to some anthropogenic influence. It was concluded that the vulnerability of the basin could, largely, be controlled by vigilant resource management, coupled with the exchange of information between different resources managers.

Key-Words / Index Term :
Vulnerability, Oases, EVI, Ziz-Rheris

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