Moulouya River

Moulouya River
Iɣẓer en Melwect
واد ملوية
View of the mouth of the Moulouya
Country Morocco
Physical characteristics
Main source Jbel Ayachi
3,700 m (12,100 ft)
River mouth Mediterranean Sea near Saïdia
0 m (0 ft)
35°07′22″N 2°20′12″W / 35.1228°N 2.3367°W / 35.1228; -2.3367Coordinates: 35°07′22″N 2°20′12″W / 35.1228°N 2.3367°W / 35.1228; -2.3367
Length 520 km (320 mi)
Basin features
Progression Middle Atlas - Hassan II Dam - Mohamed V Dam - Mediterranean Sea
Official name Embouchure de la Moulouya
Designated 15 January 2005
Reference no. 1478[1]

The Moulouya River (Berber: iɣẓer en Melwect, Arabic: واد ملوية‎) is a 520 kilometers long river in Morocco. Its sources are located in the Ayashi mountain in the Middle Atlas.[2] It empties into the Mediterranean Sea near Saïdia, in northeast Morocco at about 35°07′22″N 2°20′12″W / 35.1228°N 2.3367°W / 35.1228; -2.3367.

Water level in the river often fluctuates. The river is used for irrigation and is dammed by the Hassan II and Mohamed V Dams.

History

The Romans called this river Malva. The Moulouya River formed the eastern border of the Rif Republic in the 1920s, a small part of Morocco containing important cities like Saïdia and Oujda lying to the east, between the Moulouya and the border with Algeria. Until 1956 the river also formed the eastern border of the Spanish Protectorate of Morocco.

Ecology

In August 2011 fish were killed by pollutants in the Moulouya River and local residents feared for their crops and livestock.[3]

Fish killed by pollutants fill the Moulouya River in August 2011.
Flamingoes in the Moulouya.

References

  1. ↑ "Embouchure de la Moulouya". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  2. ↑ M. Peyron, « ‘Ayyachi, Jbel », Encyclopédie berbère, vol.8, Edisud 1990, p.1200-1204
  3. ↑ Magharebia - Ecological disaster mars Morocco's Moulouya River


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