The Haouz Plain at the foot of the High Atlas Mountains is the beneficiary of the relatively high precipitation totals in the mountains.

The High Atlas Mountains just outside Marrakech loom in the distance.

-Look at the precipitation map of Morocco. How much precipitation do the highest peaks of the High Atlas receive? The Haouz?

You can see that the mountains are snow covered. The occurence of much of the precipitation in the High Atlas as snow allows for the water resources of the mountains to serve as a reservoir of water throughout the warm spring and into the hot summer months. Snow melts slowly and feeds the streams of the mountain slopes. This is called meltwater.

-How high are the Atlas mountains? Why have they been referred to as the "water-tower" of Morocco?

-Look again at the precipitation map of Morocco. What picture can you draw of the range of precipitation totals along a transect from Marrakech to Ouarzazate?