Page 282 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Morocco

280  MOR OC C O REGION B Y REGION

The Southern and Eastern Oases

Southern and eastern Morocco have many oases. Their
existence depends on the presence of water, which is either
supplied by rivers flowing down from the mountains or
provided by an underground water table. Underground
water rises naturally at the foot of dunes or is pumped by
artesian wells or along underground channels known as
khettaras, some of them covering considerable distances.
This accounts for the fact that the oases are strung out in a Seguias are man-made
line along the Dadès, Draa and Ziz valleys. channels that criss-cross the
oasis, bringing water to the
crops and trees. Clay plugs are
sometimes used to divert the
Irrigation in the Oases water along particular routes.
Set in particularly hostile surroundings,
oases are a very fragile ecological Clay plugs are used to
environment that survives thanks only to direct the flow of water to
ceaseless human intervention. Many dams other parts of the oasis.
are built to control the flow of water in the
wadis, which, when they are in flood, can
devastate the plantations in the oases in
a few hours. Khettaras and seguias must
be regularly cleared.

Date palms, of which
there are many varieties,
produce abundant fruit.
A single tree can
provide 30 to 100 kg
(66 to 220 lb) of dates a
year. They are harvested
in autumn.
Animal-skin
container
Barley

Irrigation is produced by
khettaras, underground
channels that bring water to
the oasis. Here, the water is
either drawn from a well or is
Crops such as tomatoes, carrots simply forced to the surface
and lettuce, as well as fruit trees by gravity. The exact amount
such as fig and apricot, thrive in the of water needed for each
shade provided by the palm trees. crop is provided by seguias.

280-281_EW_Moroco.indd 280 13/08/14 10:52 AM
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Feature template “UK” LAYER
(SourceReport v1.3)
Date 18th October 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm