220
E. Iwasaki et al.
1 Introduction
In arid regions, which depend upon groundwater, land use is closely related to the
availability of groundwater, and accessibility to the wells. In this regard, the New
Valley Project and development of wells under economic liberalization have a huge
impact, as is discussed in Chapter 12 on History of Wells. Causes of agricultural land
expansion and its impacts on arid ecosystems are fundamental problems challenging
the sustainability of societies depending on groundwater. The relative abundance
of water enabled the rapid increase in population in the latter half of the twentieth
century (Kato et al. 2014). The land use change analysis showed that the extension of cultivated land was already completed by the 1980s in the North and South
subdistricts, after which it spread toward the West (Kato et al. 2012). Consequently,
a thorough understanding of this phenomenon is necessary to avoid future problems.
With the objective of identifying land expansion dynamics and their primary
drivers, this chapter analyzes changes in land use in Rashda village in Dakhla Oasis
between 1968 and 2018, and identifies the land uses from which expansion occurred
using Corona 1968 image and Landsat images from 1988 and 2003 and Sentinel-2
2018 images. Groundwater wells distributed in the Oasis are related with land-use
changes that occurred in that period.
2 Research Site
2.1 Demographic Features
Rashda village administratively belongs to Markaz (district) Dakhla, New Valley
Governorate in the Western Desert of Egypt. It is located 10 km northwest of Mut
town, the administrative center of Dakhla Oasis. Its population in 2017 was 7228
(Table 1).
As can be seen from Table 1, the most tremendous population increase occurred
between 1947 and 1976, with an annual increase rate of 5.0% in Rashda village.
Although the population at the village level is not available for the population
censuses 1960 and 1966, the population censuses available at markaz level guided
us that this largest population increase occurred between 1966 and 1976 when the
New Valley Project has been implemented (Kato et al. 2014: 6).
The population tripled from 1947, reaching 4398 in 1976. This phenomenon is
similar to that observed in other villages such as Mut town, Qasr, Teneida and other
villages in Dakhla Oasis. It is known that during the New Valley Project, many people
from outside moved to the New Valley Governorate. This was particularly the case
in Kharga and Farafra Oases, where many new settlements were established such
as “Baghdad”. For Dakhla Oasis, the migration from outside was smaller in size
compared to Kharga and Farafra Oases, and were limited to Mut town or the areas
in Qasr. For Rashda village, the population increase during the 1960s would have
E. Iwasaki et al.
1 Introduction
In arid regions, which depend upon groundwater, land use is closely related to the
availability of groundwater, and accessibility to the wells. In this regard, the New
Valley Project and development of wells under economic liberalization have a huge
impact, as is discussed in Chapter 12 on History of Wells. Causes of agricultural land
expansion and its impacts on arid ecosystems are fundamental problems challenging
the sustainability of societies depending on groundwater. The relative abundance
of water enabled the rapid increase in population in the latter half of the twentieth
century (Kato et al. 2014). The land use change analysis showed that the extension of cultivated land was already completed by the 1980s in the North and South
subdistricts, after which it spread toward the West (Kato et al. 2012). Consequently,
a thorough understanding of this phenomenon is necessary to avoid future problems.
With the objective of identifying land expansion dynamics and their primary
drivers, this chapter analyzes changes in land use in Rashda village in Dakhla Oasis
between 1968 and 2018, and identifies the land uses from which expansion occurred
using Corona 1968 image and Landsat images from 1988 and 2003 and Sentinel-2
2018 images. Groundwater wells distributed in the Oasis are related with land-use
changes that occurred in that period.
2 Research Site
2.1 Demographic Features
Rashda village administratively belongs to Markaz (district) Dakhla, New Valley
Governorate in the Western Desert of Egypt. It is located 10 km northwest of Mut
town, the administrative center of Dakhla Oasis. Its population in 2017 was 7228
(Table 1).
As can be seen from Table 1, the most tremendous population increase occurred
between 1947 and 1976, with an annual increase rate of 5.0% in Rashda village.
Although the population at the village level is not available for the population
censuses 1960 and 1966, the population censuses available at markaz level guided
us that this largest population increase occurred between 1966 and 1976 when the
New Valley Project has been implemented (Kato et al. 2014: 6).
The population tripled from 1947, reaching 4398 in 1976. This phenomenon is
similar to that observed in other villages such as Mut town, Qasr, Teneida and other
villages in Dakhla Oasis. It is known that during the New Valley Project, many people
from outside moved to the New Valley Governorate. This was particularly the case
in Kharga and Farafra Oases, where many new settlements were established such
as “Baghdad”. For Dakhla Oasis, the migration from outside was smaller in size
compared to Kharga and Farafra Oases, and were limited to Mut town or the areas
in Qasr. For Rashda village, the population increase during the 1960s would have