20 Feb First field work – Exploration and site selection

The main objective of the field trip in February 2020 was to identify the research sites for the future field campaigns for the conduction of interviews and the sampling of ecological data at the rivers. While some of the river sites were already visited during past field activities in the SaliDraa1 project, new sites were identified based on satellite imagery and field observations. Thereby, a focus was put on the Upper Draa area, with the tributaries Dades, M’Goun, Ounila, El Mellah, Iriri, and Ait Douchen, that all merge in the El Mansour Eddahbi dam. With most of these sites showing low salinity levels and permanent flow, they are important for the comparison with the sites in the Middle and Lower Draa, which are strongly affected by water scarcity and/or salinity. The opportunity of being in the field was used for a first collection of data, both by sampling in the rivers and by conducting interviews, to already get a better idea about our research area.