Groundwater Rising as Environmental Problem, Causes and Solutions: Case Study from Aswan City, Upper Egypt

Abstract

This paper examines the rise in the level of the groundwater in the Quaternary aquifer at Aswan city, Upper Egypt. Since the 1960’s, the areal extent of Aswan City and the urban populations are growing at a high pace which introduces new sources of water that increase groundwater recharge. As a result of leakages or infiltrations from different sources, the natural groundwater balance is overturned into an unbalance where the input to water table is comparatively much more than the natural groundwater flow towards the Nile River. The present study shows a variation in the groundwater level, from 1971 up to 2014, where the water table rising ranges between 12.55 and 13.69 m. Also, it shows an abrupt increase in the water levels in 2010 continuing up till now. The groundwater rising phenomena that happened in 2010 can be directly refereed to the cessation of groundwater pumping from El-Shallal wells, and to the reduction of pumping from KIMA factory wells. Generally, the rate of water rising is much higher in the western side of the city and in Kima factory area, where they are characterized by low relief and dense population. The most troublesome groundwater mounds under urban areas are likely to develop in low-lying areas of relatively high permeability aquifer, which is not exploited for water supply. These damages will become more widespread if the rising groundwater table remains uncontrolled. The environmental impact of the water rising includes: forming ponds in low lying areas (Kima and El Shallal ponds), flooding building’s basements, and inundating underground infrastructure. A general deterioration in groundwater quality was identified.