Integrated water management under climate change through the application of the WEAP model in a Mediterranean arid region

This research aims at establishing an integrated modelling framework to assess the impact of climate change on water supply and demand across an arid area in the western Haouz plain in Morocco. Five general circulation models (GCMs) are used to evaluate the availability of future water resources under Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 emission scenarios). The projected crop water demand and irrigation water demand were analysed using the Aquacrop software, taking into account the impact of climate change on both reference evapotranspiration and crop cycle lengths. The future water balance is simulated by means of the Water Evaluation And Planning (WEAP) tool, including several socio-economic and land use scenarios under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios. The results reveal an important decrease in net precipitation with an average of −36.2% and −50.5% under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios, respectively. In terms of water balance, the ‘business as usual’ scenario would lead to an increasing unmet water demand of about +22% in the 2050 horizon and to an increased depletion of the water table that could reach 2 m/year. Changing water management and use practices remains the only solution to ensure sustainable water use and deal with the projected water scarcity. HIGHLIGHTS A holistic framework for Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in a data-scarce basin is developed.; Climate change might result in a diminution of water crop demand.; An important decrease in net precipitation was revealed under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios.; The ‘business as usual’ scenario leads to an increased unmet water demand of +22% in 2050 and to an increased depletion of the water table to 2 m/year.; Adaptation by dam has little potential to establish sustainable Water Resource Management.;