Telemonitoring system for irrigation in Draa Valley (Morocco)

The Draa valley is located in the South East of the Atlas mountains in the South of Morocco. Downstream of the reservoir (560 millions cubic meters) erected in 1968 in Ouarzazate; the Draa flows first through the Anti-Atlas, then in its middle reach where six palm groves are located along the valley. These palm groves are separated by geological narrowings called "FOUM". 26,000 hectares are irrigated by a traditional network consisting of earthen canals called "SEGUIA" fed by man-made sills across the Oued. This ancestral system is now strengthened by a huge network of lined canals and five barrages with offtake. Almost every two months, the managing authority (ORMVAO) releases 25 cumecs from the dam during three weeks. Because of the distance (240 km between the dam and the downstream palm grove), the hydraulic conditions (a natural water course), the mixing of a traditional and a modern network, the communication problem and the water precariousness (the reservoir was almost empty in 1987), the whole system is very difficult to handle. That is the reason why ORMVAO wishes to implement a water monitoring system, partially with telecommunication, to control the water quantities feeding the various irrigation structures. The project aims to implement about 100 check points from which 12 will be telemonitored. This will allow us to know: the discharges and levels in the structures along the Oued, the discharges in the primary canals, the levels to determine the reservoir water balance, the water quality changes, the data for the evapotranspiration determination. All these data will be collected in the ORMVAO water management centre in Ouarzazate, processed through management assistance programs and dispatched to the sector centres, called "CMV" (Centre de Mise en Valeur). This system is called "SIGMADRAA" (Systeme Informatise de Gestion et de Maitrise de l'Eau dans la Vallee du Draa).