Groundwater resource sustainability in the Wadi Watir delta, Gulf of Aqaba, Sinai, Egypt

Eissa, Mustafa; Thomas, James M.; Pohll, Greg; Hershey, Ronald L.; Dahab, Kamal; Dawoud, Marwa M.; El-Shiekh, Abdelfattah; Gomaa, Mohamed A.

doi:10.1007/s10040-013-1031-y

Cited by 37 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…A detailed groundwater flow model was developed and calibrated for the Wadi Watir watershed using average annual recharge estimates and groundwater discharge measured for the well field and Furtaga Springs in the main channel. This modeling effort produced a water balance based on estimated groundwater recharge, measured groundwater discharge, and model calibration based on water levels with an average annual recharge value of 1.58 9 10 6 m 3 /year, for 1982-2009 (Eissa et al 2013). Elewa and Qaddah (2011) ranked the Nubian Sandstone aquifer (lower Cretaceous) in eastern Sinai and the Furtaga Springs area in Wadi Watir as promising areas with very high annual groundwater recharge.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geochemical and isotopic evolution of groundwater in the Wadi Watir watershed, Sinai Peninsula, Egypt

et al. 2013

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The Wadi Watir delta in the Wadi Watir watershed is a tourist area in the arid southeastern part of the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, where development and growth of the community on the delta are constrained by the amount of groundwater that can be withdrawn sustainably. To effectively manage groundwater resources in the Wadi Watir delta, the origin of groundwater recharge, groundwater age, and changes in groundwater chemistry in the watershed needs to be understood. Mineral identification, rock chemistry, water chemistry, and the isotopes of hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon in groundwater were used to identify the sources, mixing, and ages of groundwater in the watershed and the chemical evolution of groundwater as it flows from the upland areas in the watershed to the developed areas at the Wadi Watir delta. Groundwater in the Wadi Watir watershed is primarily from recent recharge while groundwater salinity is controlled by mixing of chemically different waters and dissolution of minerals and salts in the aquifers. The El Shiekh Attia and Wadi El Ain areas in the upper Wadi Watir watershed have different recharge sources, either from recharge from other areas or from different storm events. The downgradient Main Channel area receives groundwater flow primarily from the El Shiekh Attia area. Groundwater in the Main Channel area is the primary source of groundwater supplying the aquifers of the Wadi Watir delta.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geochemical and isotopic evolution of groundwater in the Wadi Watir watershed, Sinai Peninsula, Egypt

et al. 2013

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“…1 and 2) are the main recharge sources of groundwater and are located up gradient of the alluvial aquifers of the delta (El Ghazawi, 1999;Eissa et al, 2013b). The primary potable water supply for the Wadi Watir delta is from a well field located adjacent to the mountain block where the Wadi Watir watershed drainage enters the delta ( Fig.…”

Section: Study Area Geology and Hydrogeologymentioning

confidence: 97%

“…1). In this aquifer, a thin lens of groundwater floats over a deep saline layer that is very sensitive to pumping induced stresses (El Kiki et al, 1992;El-Refaei, 1992;Eissa et al, 2010). The aquifer has a thickness of about 90 m and high porosity that exceeds 30% (Khalil, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…The delta was filled with high-saline water during the Pleistocene epoch and its deep layers are composed of mainly clayey sand and clay intercalations that represent three sequential phases of regression and transgression of gulf water (Abbas et al, 2004;Mabrouk and Nasr, 1997). In the Gulf of Aqaba drainage system, recharge is limited throughout the dry season, and groundwater salinization becomes a severe problem (Himida, 1997;Eissa et al, 2010;Isawi et al, 2016). Therefore, understanding the groundwater recharge sources and the upwelling mechanism of deep saline groundwater are important for groundwater management, and necessary to ensure groundwater sustainability at local and regional scales.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Groundwater recharge and salinization in the arid coastal plain aquifer of the Wadi Watir delta, Sinai, Egypt

Eissa

Thomas

Pohll

et al. 2016

Applied Geochemistry

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“…In Egypt, seawater intrusion has spread north, across the Nile Delta (Sherif et al, 2001), along the northwestern coast (Eissa et al, 2015a, Eissa et al, 2015b, and along the Gulf of Aqaba coast in the eastern Sinai Peninsula (Eissa et al, 2013). In the Ras El Hekma area, groundwater recharge is limited, and mainly comes from annual precipitation events (100 mm/year), meaning the layer of freshwater floating over the seawater is insufficient to sustain the daily pumping requirements.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrative management of saltwater intrusion in poorly-constrained semi-arid coastal aquifer at Ras El-Hekma, Northwestern Coast, Egypt

Eissa

Dreuzy

Parker

2018

Groundwater for Sustainable Development

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International audienceSaltwater intrusion is a major concern in coastal aquifers, particularly in arid and semiarid regions, where recharge is limited and groundwater withdrawal is the main source of potable water. In Ras El Hekma groundwater occurs in the Pleistocene aquifer as a thin lens of freshwater where groundwater quality is very sensitive to pumping stresses. High groundwater withdrawals from the Pleistocene aquifer deteriorate the groundwater quality along the coast due to upwelling of saltwater into the thin lens freshwater. The Pleistocene aquifer is poorly-constrained; the hydrological and geochemical records are sparse. Therefore, a simple analytical approach has been used in order to address local and regional groundwater management issues, for cases of data scarcity using little known and well defined parameters. The model assumes steady state flow as an initial condition in an isotropic and homogeneous medium, with a sharp interface between the freshwater and seawater wedge. The model combines the hydrogeological and geochemical characterization, adapted to the aquifer geometry, in order to provide global salt and freshwater balances to the Ras El Hekma scale site. The model shows progressive extension of the seawater intrusion zone (x-toe) upon increasing the groundwater withdrawals from 250 m3/day to an order of magnitude of this amount. The x-toe distance has been extended from 1700 to 5000 m from the tip of Ras El Hekma to inland. Such model could be applied to estimate the volume of the freshwater and seawater wedge along the coast as well as to predict the groundwater withdrawals under different pumping scenarios. Seawater intrusion, in the Ras El Hekma area, is caused by the unbalance between the pumping withdrawal rates and the natural recharge from precipitation. The model can be applied for similar hydrogeological systems, specifically, coastal aquifers located in semiarid to arid environments where limited aquifer data is available

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Groundwater resource sustainability in the Wadi Watir delta, Gulf of Aqaba, Sinai, Egypt

Cited by 37 publications

References 16 publications

Geochemical and isotopic evolution of groundwater in the Wadi Watir watershed, Sinai Peninsula, Egypt

Geochemical and isotopic evolution of groundwater in the Wadi Watir watershed, Sinai Peninsula, Egypt

Groundwater recharge and salinization in the arid coastal plain aquifer of the Wadi Watir delta, Sinai, Egypt

Integrative management of saltwater intrusion in poorly-constrained semi-arid coastal aquifer at Ras El-Hekma, Northwestern Coast, Egypt

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