Waterlogging in the New Reclaimed Areas Northeast El Fayoum, Western Desert, Egypt, Reasons and Solutions

Abstract

The waterlogging in the new reclaimed areas has become a major concern in the area Northeast El Fayoum, Western Desert, Egypt. It is not only endangering the structures and properties but also causing major environmental problem affecting the health of the area, habitats, and the biotic of the land community, as well as the deteriorating of Egypt’s Pharaonic monuments (El Lahun and Hawarah pyramids). Both the daily seepage from excess irrigation water and the presence of impervious clay or limestone beds at shallow depths may represent the main contributor of ground-water rising in the shallow aquifer. This paper investigates the interplay of the hydrogeological characteristics, soil properties and recent land reclamation projects on the distribution of waterlogging and salinization within the study area. The field observations show that new reclaimed areas have been recently cultivated in distant areas from the old agricultural land. These new cultivations have developed widespread waterlogging, soil salinization and deterioration of Egypt’s Pharaonic monuments as a result of rising groundwater related problems. In this paper, the data used come from database of drillings for eleven observation wells distributed inside the whole area to measure periodic water levels. The soil litho-units are mainly composed of coarse sand, sandy clay, silt and fractured limestone underlined by impervious clay or limestone, thus limiting the downward percolation of excess irrigation water and therefore develops waterlogging. The drainage networks and suitable irrigation methods have to be considered when planning for a new cultivation in dry land to better control waterlogging and salinization hazard. It is highly recommended in this research that newly small and deep cut drainage canals network should be constructed and connected to the master drainage canal to dewater the excess irrigation water and to prevent the waterlogging in the concerned area.