chief river of northeastern Morocco. Rising in the High Atlas (Haut Atlas) mountains in central Morocco, it flows for 320 miles (515 km) northeastward through a semiarid valley to the Mediterranean Sea just west of the Algerian border. Although not navigable and of irregular volume, it has been harnessed by a dam (completed 1967) at Mechra Klila to provide electricity for the towns of northern Morocco. Lead and manganese deposits are worked in the river valley.