Detecting and Controlling the Waterlogging in Dakhla Basin
257
a fishing industry, an artificial lake was built just north of Mut, but the main source
of water remains the wells.
This depression is marked by deep wells. Like in Kharga, they are drilled to great
depth so that Nubian sandstone can contain water. There were 420 ancient wells at
the beginning of the twentieth century, known by the natives as Ain Romani, and 162
modern wells in the plural called bir or abyar. Rohlfs claimed in 1874 that a Hassan
Effendi had drilled sixty wells in Dakhla in thirty years, originally collaborating
with French mining engineer LeFevre (Cassandra 2002). The wells are just the first
component of the irrigation system, as farmers also have to build irrigation canals
to carry the water to the fields. Today in Dakhla, there are 600 wells with more
on the way. Creating a new well takes one million Egyptian pounds. However, the
springs and wells contain iron, magnesium, sulfur, and chloride and are perfect for
rheumatism, colds, skin diseases, and kidney stones in their healing water. Today’s
Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System (NSAS) water pumping practice is not known
because of the scarcity of data and information. It is not certain that the aquifer will
be revived or that the pumping will only be based on ancient water. The numerous
papers that focus on Dakhla Basin often have conflicting information; the scarce
data are with wide ranges and often focused on very limited measurements. The
aquifer is only superficially mapped and not mapped on a small scale, which might
be appropriate, for example, to position sensitive wells.
Data on groundwater production and water management in many oases is very
limited. It was very difficult to find basic information. There are some papers
on hydrogeological results, of course, but they are often very detailed and do
not address fundamental water potential questions. Unfortunately, the impacts of
extensive groundwater production involve increasing water level fall, depletion of
aquifer reserves, and degradation of groundwater quality. However, there are growing
concerns about the aquifer’s safe yield production due to the negligible to restricted
aquifer recharge and the rapid growth of agricultural areas. These new agricultural
areas are being developed on large areas mainly available in expansive playas, plain
sand outwash formed on the border scarp foot slope and the depression ground.
For instance, as a result of overpumping, the deep Nubian Sandstone aquifer for
irrigation, the groundwater levels in Dakhla Oasis are gradually reduced by a rate
of 1 to 4 meters per year. However, soil fertility is significantly impaired by high
unfavorable drainage conditions and unsuitable agriculture and irrigation techniques
have resulted in extensive soil logging and salinization (Khouri 2003). Despite the
drainage problems, large areas of depression have already been irrigated, hoping
that the natural drainage capacity of the deep sandy soil profiles will be adequate to
control the growth of soil water tables.
7 Conclusions
The study area (Dakhla Basin) is located in Egypt’s Western Desert, which includes
three Oases, Farafra, Dakhla and Kharga. It lies between latitudes 24° to 28° N and
257
a fishing industry, an artificial lake was built just north of Mut, but the main source
of water remains the wells.
This depression is marked by deep wells. Like in Kharga, they are drilled to great
depth so that Nubian sandstone can contain water. There were 420 ancient wells at
the beginning of the twentieth century, known by the natives as Ain Romani, and 162
modern wells in the plural called bir or abyar. Rohlfs claimed in 1874 that a Hassan
Effendi had drilled sixty wells in Dakhla in thirty years, originally collaborating
with French mining engineer LeFevre (Cassandra 2002). The wells are just the first
component of the irrigation system, as farmers also have to build irrigation canals
to carry the water to the fields. Today in Dakhla, there are 600 wells with more
on the way. Creating a new well takes one million Egyptian pounds. However, the
springs and wells contain iron, magnesium, sulfur, and chloride and are perfect for
rheumatism, colds, skin diseases, and kidney stones in their healing water. Today’s
Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System (NSAS) water pumping practice is not known
because of the scarcity of data and information. It is not certain that the aquifer will
be revived or that the pumping will only be based on ancient water. The numerous
papers that focus on Dakhla Basin often have conflicting information; the scarce
data are with wide ranges and often focused on very limited measurements. The
aquifer is only superficially mapped and not mapped on a small scale, which might
be appropriate, for example, to position sensitive wells.
Data on groundwater production and water management in many oases is very
limited. It was very difficult to find basic information. There are some papers
on hydrogeological results, of course, but they are often very detailed and do
not address fundamental water potential questions. Unfortunately, the impacts of
extensive groundwater production involve increasing water level fall, depletion of
aquifer reserves, and degradation of groundwater quality. However, there are growing
concerns about the aquifer’s safe yield production due to the negligible to restricted
aquifer recharge and the rapid growth of agricultural areas. These new agricultural
areas are being developed on large areas mainly available in expansive playas, plain
sand outwash formed on the border scarp foot slope and the depression ground.
For instance, as a result of overpumping, the deep Nubian Sandstone aquifer for
irrigation, the groundwater levels in Dakhla Oasis are gradually reduced by a rate
of 1 to 4 meters per year. However, soil fertility is significantly impaired by high
unfavorable drainage conditions and unsuitable agriculture and irrigation techniques
have resulted in extensive soil logging and salinization (Khouri 2003). Despite the
drainage problems, large areas of depression have already been irrigated, hoping
that the natural drainage capacity of the deep sandy soil profiles will be adequate to
control the growth of soil water tables.
7 Conclusions
The study area (Dakhla Basin) is located in Egypt’s Western Desert, which includes
three Oases, Farafra, Dakhla and Kharga. It lies between latitudes 24° to 28° N and