Geophysical Surveys for Delineating Salt Water Intrusion and Fresh Water Resources in the Oued Laou Coastal Aquifer

Because of its stable quantity and quality, groundwater has long been a reliable source of water for domestic, agricultural, and industrial users in the Oued Laou region (N. Morocco), but the establishment of management program that integrates groundwater and surface water use has been hampered by the lack of detailed information. In order to get a better knowledge on both the geometry of the formations and physical and chemical characteristics of the aquifer a combined study integrating the geophysical and hydrochemical data has been conducted. The existence of a zone with high chloride content detected by chemical analyses at the west of the river Laou, coincides with high electrical conductivity values obtained from a frequency domain electromagnetic survey that indicates the extension of saltwater intrusion in the Oued Laou aquifer. The joint interpretation of geophysical, geological and geochemical data allowed us to identify the geometry of the aquifer and estimate the limits between fresh and saltwater.