Groundwater Depletion in an Urban Environment under Semiarid Climate and Persistent Drought–City of Marrakesh (Morocco)

The quantitative monitoring of the shallow aquifer in Marrakesh and its surrounding area shows that the water table has been lowered gradually over the last 40 years, and attaining an acute decline in the early 2000s. This declining trend—if confirmed in the future—may lead to a water shortage, or even to a total aquifer depletion, which would be devastating for a region where economic activity and drinking water supply rely partly on groundwater resources. Two factors account for this situation: the hot semi-arid climate characterized by high temperatures and low precipitation, causing an inadequate groundwater recharge (deficit between rainwater supply and the potential evapotranspiration), and the over-pumping of groundwater from wells for intensive agricultural uses and some leisure activities (golf courses, waterparks and pools, for example). The objective of this study is to assess the hydrodynamic behaviour of the shallow aquifer in this context of persistent drought and semi-arid climate under intense use conditions. Based on earlier research studies and hydrological data recently collected from the field, a spatiotemporal analysis using a geographic information system has been conducted, allowing researchers to monitor the evolution of groundwater resources under the impact of intense exploitation. This study shows a general decline of groundwater level in the city of Marrakesh between 1962–2019. However, by dividing this period into three periods (1962–1985, 1986–2001 and 2002–2019), it is obvious that the main groundwater fall occurred during the two last decades, a period marked by highest recorded temperatures and decreased precipitation levels. This water table decline impacted 85% of the study area and is estimated at 0.9 m/year. The area most affected by the drawdown of the water table experienced a decline reaching 37 m between 2002 and 2019 (more than 2 m a year).

Eating Chapattis with Salt and Water: Bundelkhand’s Chronic Food Insecurity

Food insecurity prevails when the availability of sufficient nutritious and safe food is threatened. This article examines conditions in Bundelkhand’s Banda district and analyses the reasons behind the conditions of food insecurity prevalent there. On the basis of household-level primary data, body mass index (BMI) and 24-hours dietary recall (24-HDR) have been used to measure the chronic and transitory dimensions of food insecurity. The overall sex specific prevalence of chronic energy deficiency (CED) shows that both males and females are passing through a critical situation with respect to their nutritional status with females being more underprivileged. Nearly two-fifths of the households remain hungry and are consuming calories less than the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) of 1,890 calories, with wasted children being the biggest sufferers of CED. Persistent drought conditions combined with the unavailability of assured means of irrigation and faulty implementation of government systems and services, have ensured that Banda district remains in a state of chronic food insecurity.

Quantitative Response of Maize Vcmax25 to Persistent Drought Stress at Different Growth Stages

Drought stress has adverse effects on crop growth and yield, and its identification and monitoring play vital roles in precision crop water management. Accurately evaluating the effect of drought stress on crop photosynthetic capacity can provide a basis for decisions related to crop drought stress identification and monitoring as well as drought stress resistance and avoidance. In this study, the effects of different degrees of persistent drought in different growth stages (3rd leaf stage, 7th leaf stage and jointing stage) on the maximum carboxylation rate at a reference temperature of 25 °C (Vcmax25) of the first fully expanded leaf and its relationship to the leaf water content (LWC) were studied in a field experiment from 2013 to 2015. The results indicated that the LWC decreased continuously as drought stress continued and that the LWC decreased faster in the treatment with more irrigation. Vcmax25 showed a decreasing trend as the drought progressed but had no clear relationship to the growth stage in which the persistent drought occurred. Vcmax25 showed a significantly parabolic relationship (R2 = 0.701, p < 0.001) with the LWC, but the different degrees of persistent drought stress occurring in different growth stages had no distinct effect on the LWC values when Vcmax25 reached its maximum value or zero. The findings of this study also suggested that the LWC was 82.5 ± 0.5% when Vcmax25 reached its maximum value (42.6 ± 3.6 μmol m−2 s−1) and 67.6 ± 1.2% (extreme drought) when Vcmax25 reached zero. These findings will help to improve crop drought management and will be an important reference for crop drought identification, classification and monitoring as well as for the development of drought monitoring and early warning systems for other crops or maize varieties.

Modeling the Influence of Upstream Land-atmosphere Coupling on the 2017 Persistent Drought over Northeast China

Persistent drought events that cause serious damages to economy and environment are usually intensified by the feedback between land surface and atmosphere. Therefore, reasonably modeling land-atmosphere coupling is critical for skillful prediction of persistent droughts. However, most high-resolution regional climate modeling focused on the amplification effect of land-atmosphere coupling on local anticyclonic circulation anomaly, while less attention was paid to the non-local influence through altering large-scale atmospheric circulation. Here we investigate how the antecedent land-atmosphere coupling over the area south to Lake Baikal (ASLB) influences the drought events occurred over its downstream region (Northeast China; NEC) by using Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model and linear baroclinic model (LBM). When the ASLB is artificially forced to be wet in the WRF simulations during March-May, the surface sensible heating is weakened and results in a cooling anomaly in low level atmosphere during May-July. Consequently, the anticyclonic circulation anomalies over ASLB and NEC are weakened, and the severity of NEC drought during May-July cannot be captured due to the upstream wetting in March-May. In the LBM experiments, idealized atmospheric heating anomaly that mimics the diabatic heating associated with surface wetness is imposed over ASLB, and the quasi-steady response pattern of 500-hPa geopotential height to the upstream wetting is highly consistent with that in the WRF simulation. In addition, the lower level heating instead of the upper level cooling makes a major contribution to the high pressure anomaly over NEC. This study implies the critical role of modeling upstream land-atmosphere coupling in capturing downstream persistent droughts.

Adaptation to Climate Change: Status, Household Strategies and Challenges in Lesotho

Rural livelihoods across Lesotho have been markedly impacted by climate change, as they are largely agriculture dependent (80%). Adaptation to the events of climate variability especially in agriculturally dependent communities is of importance. In drier districts given the fact that agriculture is the most affected sector, the (Lesotho) state adopted several strategies and measures for climate change adaptation to improve rural livelihoods. To get an overview of adaptation, the study reviewed the National Adaptation Programme Actions (NAPA), Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and the National Policy on Climate Change (NPCC) as the instruments specific to adaptation to climate change. A case study of Mafeteng district, an area subjected to persistent drought events was selected to examine adaptation strategies employed. Two prominent strategies highlighted in the study are conservation agriculture and keyhole gardening. Furthermore, a top down approach is found to exist in terms of adaptation planning, not only that but adaptation action is more focused on capacity building of technocrats whilst households are struggling to adapt at grassroots level. Secondly, research is limited to national assessments leading to nonspecific interventions and last adaptation projects are largely donor funded lacking sustainability in turn. This therefore warrants integrated planning and an interdependent stakeholder approach is proposed as a way forward.

The Northeast China Persistent Drought in Spring-Summer of 2017: Joint Roles of Teleconnection and Land-atmosphere Coupling

&lt;p&gt;Northeast China (NEC) suffered its worst persistent drought event in recent decades from March to July of 2017 with devastating impacts on the environment and agriculture. Previous drought mechanism studies focused on the atmospheric&amp;#160;remote&amp;#160;response to Arctic sea ice and ENSO, while less attention was paid to synergistic effects of large-scale teleconnections and local land-atmosphere coupling. Here we show that a strong positive phase of Arctic Oscillation in March triggered the NEC drought, and a quasi-stationary Rossby wave train maintained the drought with an anticyclone located over the area south to Lake Baikal (ASLB) in April-July. By using a land-atmosphere coupling index based on the persistence of positive feedback between boundary layer and land surface, we find that the NEC and ASLB experienced a wet coupling in March while a persistently strengthened dry coupling in April-July. Over ASLB, the dry coupling and sinking motion increased surface sensible heat, decreased cloud cover, and weakened longwave absorption, resulting in a diabatic heating anomaly in the lower atmosphere and a diabatic cooling anomaly in the upper atmosphere. This anomalous vertical heating profile generated a negative anomaly of potential vorticity, indicating that the land-atmosphere coupling had a phase-lock effect on the Rossby wave train originating from upstream areas, and therefore maintained the NEC drought over downstream regions. Numerical simulations with and without surface sensible heating are being conducted to verify the influence of teleconnected land-atmosphere coupling, i.e., dry land conditions over ASLB in May can cause positive height anomaly over ASLB and NEC during June-July through heating the low level atmosphere. Our study suggests that upstream quasi-stationary wave pattern strengthened by land-atmosphere coupling should be considered in diagnosing persistent droughts especially over northern mid-latitudes.&lt;/p&gt;

CERITA TENTANG PANGAN DAN PAKAN DI DAERAH KODI, SUMBA BARAT DAYA

Beginning with the question of why the people of Sumba, especially in Kodi, Southwest Sumba Regency, East Nusa Tenggara Province, feel ‘embarrassed’ to tell the outsiders that they still consume tubers as a staple food, this paper unfolds the story of food and fodder based on the recollection of the community. They eat rice mixed with corn every day and find such food tasty and fulfilling. They solely eat rice during important ritual ceremonies (wedding, funeral, and other traditional rituals). Eating steamed or roasted tubers, accompanied by coffee or sweet tea, has been their morning or afternoon habit while engaging in a conversation with family members. However, tubers become staple food during the hunger season. The data were collected using Participatory Research (RAP) method, or also known as the Action Research. The RAP method also offers ‘learning by doing’ technique that focuses on dialogues between researchers and community members or groups of people to bring together knowledge, experience, and ideas to obtain the desired results and devise future actions. The stories were recorded and documented and later combined with the results of the literature study. The records of the stories were transcribed and then analyzed using the Intertextual method. Rice is a symbol of prosperity and civilization, making it an important food in the ritual sphere in Kodi. However, due to the condition of nature and the persistent drought and water scarcity, rice production becomes highly dependent on rain. The government programs have not been able to solve water management issues in the region.

Growth, Evapotranspiration, and Ion Uptake Characteristics of Alfalfa and Triticale Irrigated with Brackish Groundwater and Desalination Concentrate

Persistent drought, low snowfall, and low rainfall have reduced availability of fresh water for irrigating agricultural crops in many arid and semi-arid regions of the world. Brackish groundwater (electrical conductivity; EC > 3 dSm−1) is increasingly used for irrigation in New Mexico. This study investigates the effect of ion uptake from brackish groundwater and concentrate irrigation on the performance of two forage species, alfalfa (Medicago sativa) and triticale (×Triticosecale), in sand soils in greenhouse conditions. Two simultaneous experiments were run for 90 days using tap water (control; 0.7 dSm−1), brackish groundwater (BGW; 4 dSm−1), reverse osmosis concentrate (RO; 8 dSm−1, Ca2+ dominant), and BGW plus sodium chloride (BGW + NaCl; 8 dSm−1, Na+ dominant). BGW + NaCl irrigation significantly reduced the evapotranspiration (ET) of both the species. Deep percolation (DP) increased significantly with RO and BGW + NaCl irrigation in alfalfa but only with BGW + NaCl irrigation in triticale. Alfalfa plant growth decreased with increasing salinity, while triticale plants followed an opposite trend. ET continued to decrease with increasing salinity for both species. Na+ dominant (BGW + NaCl) irrigation produced robust growth and early flowering and ear head formation in triticale. Na+ ion concentration in shoots was above 0.66%, which led to reduced alfalfa growth, while more than 1.22% did not decrease triticale growth or biomass. Increased Ca2+ sequestration in alfalfa played a crucial role in reducing Na+ ion toxicity. Species performance primarily confirmed that alfalfa is moderately salt-tolerant while triticale is confirmed to be a halophyte producing abundant growth and biomass with higher Na+ uptake. Triticale proved to be a promising species for reuse of RO concentrate for agriculture in marginal lands.