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Soil Erosion Risk Assessment using the RUSLE Model, Remote Sensing, GIS, and Hydrological Modeling in Ksob Watershed, Tensift, Morocco

IWRA World Water Congress 2025 Marrakech Morocco
Water Security and Water-Related Risks
Author(s): Insaf EL MALAHI - PhD Candidate at International Water Research Institute (IWRI) – UM6P
Insaf EL MALAHI - PhD Candidate at International Water Research Institute (IWRI) – UM6P - 02-12-2025
Oral: PDF

Abstract

Introduction & Motivation

• 40% of Moroccan territory exposed to moderate–severe degradation [2].

• 2 million ha agricultural land degraded by water erosion [3].

• Erosion rates range between 5–20 t/ha/yr, up to 50 t/ha/yr in northern mountains [4, 5].

• Reservoir storage loss: 75 million m³/year (≈ one medium dam/year) [3].

• Current erosion assessment methods lack the precision and accuracy needed to identify sediment sources and capture true sediment dynamics [6, 7, 8].

• A robust, integrated framework is urgently needed to identify erosion hotspots and support effective mitigation


Research objective


This study aims to enhance soil erosion assessment in Morocco by integrating RUSLE–GIS analysis, advanced remote sensing, isotope techniques, hydrological modeling, and field measurements.