Quantitative analysis of reusing agricultural water to compensate for water supply deficiencies in the Nile Delta irrigation network

Autor: Haruyuki Fujimaki, Yoshinobu Kitamura, W. H. Abou El Hassan, Katsuyuki Shimizu, A. Khater
Rok vydání: 2014
Předmět:
Zdroj: Paddy and Water Environment. 13:367-378
ISSN: 1611-2504
1611-2490
DOI: 10.1007/s10333-014-0454-y
Popis: The main problem facing farmers in the Nile Delta is water shortages at the ends of irrigation networks and canals. These problems have worsened as water demands have increased. Egypt’s Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation is currently trying to avoid water deficits by returning agricultural drainage water to the irrigation canals. In the Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate, some canals have an oversupply in some months and deficits in others. Ministry officials started a project by constructing culverts connected canal ends with the main drain (Bhr Nashrat) to provide supplemental agricultural drainage backflows (SADB) channeled through these culverts. However, this return is not controlled, and flows are based only on differences in the hydraulic head. In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of SADB to counteract water shortages when the water supply from head regulators (WSHR) is insufficient. Our analysis considered the adequacy of the water supply and indicators of dependability and equity of supply. We tested two water supply conditions: (1) WSHR only and (2) WSHR plus SADB. During the summer (May–September) of 2008, SADB significantly improved the system’s ability to meet the irrigation water requirements (IWR) in some months. Adequacy and dependability, therefore, improved from “fair” to “good.” During the following winter (October–April), SADB improved adequacy and equity only in March and April, since water availability was generally sufficient under WSHR.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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