Rise and Fall of an Egyptian Oasis: Artesian Flow, Irrigation Soils, and Historical Agricultural Development in El-Deir, Kharga Depression, Western Desert of Egypt

2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 467-486 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Paul Bravard ◽  
Ashraf Mostafa ◽  
Romain Garcier ◽  
Gaëlle Tallet ◽  
Pascale Ballet ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Development ◽  
Western Desert ◽  
Egyptian Oasis

scholarly journals Impact of Climate Change on Agricultural Development in a Closed Groundwater-Driven Basin: A Case Study of the Siwa Region, Western Desert of Egypt

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1578
Author(s):  
Noha H. Moghazy ◽  
Jagath J. Kaluarachchi
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Agricultural Development ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Western Desert ◽  
Maximum Increase ◽  
Aquifer System ◽  
Project Impact ◽  
Impact Of Climate Change ◽  
Rcp 8.5

The Siwa region located in the Western Desert of Egypt has 30,000 acres available for reclamation as a part of a national project to increase agricultural production. This study addressed the climate change-driven long-term concerns of developing an agricultural project in this region where groundwater from the non-renewable Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System (NSAS) is the only source of water. Different climate models were used under two representative concentration pathways (RCPs); RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5. Projected seasonal temperatures show that the maximum increase in summer is 1.68 ± 1.64 °C in 2060 and 4.65 ± 1.82 °C in 2100 under RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5, respectively. The increase in water requirement for crops is estimated around 6–8.1% under RCP 4.5 while around 9.7–18.2% under RCP 8.5. Maximum reductions of strategic crop yields vary from 2.9% to 12.8% in 2060 under RCP 4.5, while from 10.4% to 27.4% in 2100 under RCP 8.5. Project goals are feasible until 2100 under RCP 4.5 but only until 2080 with RCP 8.5. When an optimization analysis was conducted, these goals are possible from 2080 to 2100 by modified land allocation. The proposed methodology is useful to project impact of climate change anywhere such that management and adaptation options can be proposed for sustainable agricultural development.

scholarly journals The Contribution of Mobile Pastoral Herds to Soil Fertility Maintenance in Sedentary Mixed Crop-Livestock Systems at Farm and Territory Scales—Part of Mutually Reinforcing Social and Ecological Relationships Supporting Sustainability

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Véronique Alary ◽  
Adel Aboul-Naga ◽  
Mona A. Osman ◽  
Ibrahim Daoud ◽  
Jonathan Vayssières
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Agricultural Development ◽  
Nile Delta ◽  
Cropping System ◽  
Research Area ◽  
Western Desert ◽  
Reclaimed Land ◽  
Farm Level ◽  
Mixed Crop ◽  
Livestock Systems

Agricultural development through settlement schemes on desert lands has always raised acute debates, especially over environmental issues due to cultivation based on intensive additions of water and fertilizers. However, nutrient cycling approaches at the farm level are generally based on apparent N flows, i.e., purchased inputs and sold products, without considering nutrient flows driven by mobile herds crossing the arable lands of sedentary farmers. Through a territory level approach, the present study aimed to assess the contribution of mobile pastoral herds located in the newly reclaimed land on the western desert edge of the Nile Delta on the supply of the manure for local sedentary farms. Based on a survey of 175 farmers, we calculated the partial farm nitrogen balances. Supplemental interviews were conducted with the pastoral community to assess the additional manure coming from grazing practices in the research area. The results show that the sedentary mixed crop-livestock systems based on the planting of Trifolium alexandrinum and a manure supply make a useful contribution toward converting poor, marginal soil into fertile soil. Moreover, grazing of crop residue by pastoral herds on the reclaimed land contributes to social sustainability by maintaining social links between the first occupants, the Bedouins, and the new settlers. Grazing accounts for 9% to 34% of farm-level N input and 25% to 64% of farm-level N output depending on the village and the cropping system. This contribution calls for different rural policies that consider the complementarity between pastoral herders and sedentary farmers that supports both systems' social and environmental sustainability.

scholarly journals Sustainable Agricultural Groundwater Management for New Reclaimed Areas in Farafra Oasis, Western Desert of Egypt

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 118-127
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Groundwater Management ◽  
Agricultural Development ◽  
Extraction Rate ◽  
Western Desert ◽  
Groundwater Extraction ◽  
Groundwater Sustainability ◽  
Sustainability Criteria ◽  
Sustainable Extraction

Sustainable groundwater management is an important practice of water resources engineering, especially, in case of deserts and oases where there is no source of surface water and precipitation rarely occurs. The importance increases when the only source of groundwater is a nonrenewable aquifer. This is the case of new reclaimed areas in Farafra Oasis, Western Desert of Egypt. The only source of irrigation water is groundwater extracted from the nonrenewable Nubian Sandstone Aquifer (NSA). There is a great agricultural development in Farafra Oasis as a part of the 1.5 million feddan mega project. Agricultural development, for new areas, is a must for Egypt to fulfil the increasing food demand accompanied with the increasing population growth rate. However, this development has to consider the sustainability of groundwater usage along with the social, economic, and national security aspects. Groundwater extraction rate from NSA has increased. As it is a nonrenewable aquifer, there is no groundwater recharge. Consequently, the groundwater potentiometric level (GPL) decreases with time. The traditional sustainability concept of safe yield or discharge equals recharge is not applicable on such cases. The Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation (MWRI) of Egypt set the groundwater sustainability criteria for groundwater-dependent new reclaimed areas in Farafra Oasis, Western Desert of Egypt. Both duration and economic lifting depth, have been considered. This paper presents groundwater sustainability assessment for extraction rates, Qwell = -1000, -2000, -3000, -4000, and -5000 m3 /d, to obtain the most beneficial sustainable extraction rate according to the MWRI sustainability criteria. A new groundwater-dependent reclaimed area of 10,000 feddan in Sahl Baraka, Farafra oasis, was taken as a case study area. GIS functions were used to obtain the values of unknown data and develop the initial groundwater potentiometric map. MODFLOW was used to construct a numerical model for groundwater extraction rate simulation for the case study area. This model was calibrated and used to obtain the depression cone drawdown (DCD) associated with different extraction rates. All NSA regional drawdown rates at Farafra oasis were considered. Benefit –Deficit analysis for duration and economic lifting depth criteria are presented and show that the extraction rate of Qwell = -3000 m3 /d is the most beneficial sustainable extraction rate according to the MWRI adopted sustainability criteria

scholarly journals Inferring Hypogene Karst at Depth from the Patterns of Non-Tectonic Syncline Networks in Eocene Limestones, Western Desert, Egypt

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara J. Tewksbury ◽  
Elhamy A. Tarabees ◽  
Robert M. Welch ◽  
Charlotte J. Mehrtens
Keyword(s):  
Red Sea ◽  
Western Desert ◽  
Crustal Extension ◽  
Compelling Evidence ◽  
Significant Component ◽  
Basement Faults ◽  
Red Sea Rift ◽  
Basaltic Magmas ◽  
Indirect Indicator ◽  
Egyptian Oasis

Indirect indicators are critically important for recognizing hypogene karst that is too deep-seated to have explorable hypogene caves. We have suggested in previous publications that an extensive network of non-tectonic synclines in otherwise flat-lying Eocene limestone in Egypt might be such an indirect indicator. We proposed that synclines formed by sag of limestone layers overlying a zone of hypogene karst that today remains deep below the surface and suggested that hypogene speleogenesis resulted from ascending aggressive fluids associated with crustal extension and magmatism in Egypt during Red Sea Rift initiation. Without hypogene caves to explore, however, we were unable to provide compelling evidence for hypogene karst processes. By doubling our mapping area from 4,000 to 8,000 km2, a clear picture has emerged of patterns in the syncline network that provide compelling evidence for hypogene speleogenesis. Over this larger area, the network displays two distinct patterns: 1) synclines and ridges that outline polygons 700–2,000 m across, and 2) narrow N–S zones of synclines spaced 5–10 km apart, with WNW–ESE to NW–SE trending shallow synclines and ridges traversing the panels between N–S zones. The geometries suggest that the syncline network is controlled by two structural patterns in rocks underlying the limestones: 1) polygonal faults in underlying shales and 2) reactivated N–S, left-lateral basement faults that are largely blind at the current level of erosion. These structures served as conduits that conveyed fluids upward into the overlying Eocene limestones, triggering dissolution at depth and a pattern of sag above that was inherited from the nature and pattern of faults and fractures in rocks underlying the limestones. The unique patterns and characteristics of this network of synclines are applicable elsewhere as an indirect indicator of deep-seated hypogene karst. Our new data also strongly suggest that syncline formation spanned the time of crustal extension in Egypt associated with onset of Red Sea rifting ∼23–22 Ma. Endogenic CO2 associated with mantle-derived basaltic magmas was likely a significant component of fluids, perhaps involving highly aggressive supercritical CO2. Mantle-derived C and He in modern Egyptian oasis water suggest that hypogene speleogenesis may still be locally active.

scholarly journals Evaluation of Desertification Severity in El-Farafra Oasis, Western Desert of Egypt: Application of Modified MEDALUS Approach Using Wind Erosion Index and Factor Analysis

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 54
Author(s):  
Mohamed E. Fadl ◽  
Ahmed S. Abuzaid ◽  
Mohamed A. E. AbdelRahman ◽  
Asim Biswas
Keyword(s):  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Wind Erosion ◽  
Agricultural Development ◽  
Western Desert ◽  
Area Index ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Environmentally Sensitive ◽  
Gis Environment

Desertification is a serious threat to human survival and to ecosystems, especially to inland desert oases. An assessment of desertification severity is essential to ensure national sustainable development for agricultural and land expansion processes in this region. In this study, Index of Land Susceptibility to Wind Erosion (ILSWE) was integrated with a Modified Mediterranean Desertification and Land Use (MEDALUS) method and factor analysis (FA) to develop a GIS-based model for mapping desertification severity. The model was then applied to 987.77 km2 in the El- Farafra Oasis, located in the Western Desert of Egypt, as a case study. Climate and field survey data together with remote sensing images were used to generate five quality indices (soil, climate, vegetation, land management and wind erosion). Based on the FA, a weighted value was assigned to each index. Five thematic layers representing the indices were created within the GIS environment and overlaid using the weighted sum model. The developed model showed that 59% of the total area was identified as high-critical and 38% as medium-critical. The results of an environmentally sensitive area index suggested by the original MEDALUS model indicated similar results: 18.37% of the total area was classified as high-critical and 78.73% as medium-critical. However, the sensitivity analysis indicated that weights derived from FA resulted in better performance of the developed spatial model than that derived from the original MEDALUS method. The proposed model would be a suitable tool for monitoring vulnerable zones, and could be a starting point for sustainable agricultural development in inland oases.

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