Changing climate and saltwater intrusion in the Nile Delta, Egypt

The objective of the current study was to assess the vulnerability of coastal systems to sea level rise (SLR) impacts in the Gamasa Ras El Bar area, which is one of the most vulnerable coastal areas in the Nile delta, Egypt. To achieve the study objective, a field campaign was carried out to investigate, measure and collect data. These data, as well as historical data, were analyzed to identify projected inundation areas, erosion and accretion rates, shoreline changes, wave climate and saltwater intrusion, as well as drainage infrastructure efficiency. The results of a 73-cm SLR, projected up to the end of current century in the study area, indicate the following. Inundation areas will be about 2.16% of the study area. Although the significant wave height increased by 3.1 cm per year from 1999 to 2010, the results are indicative and might be taken into consideration in future coastal management plans. The expected variation in groundwater heads due to sea level rise will lead to an increase in groundwater heads ranging from 0 to 0.5 m above the current level. The change expected in groundwater will lead to saltwater intrusion by 1 km landward. The analysis of our results showed that about 271 km2 (60%) of the area under study will be negatively affected by rising groundwater. This area is occupied by about 70% of the localities in the study area. The analysis of the projected groundwater level rise showed that it will increase the discharges of the sub-drainage system by about 10% of the current rates and less than 1.2% for the open system. It is concluded that the drainage system has the sub-capacity to host the expected increase in drainage discharges without any modifications of the cross-sectional area of most of the drains. In addition, the coastal groundwater aquifer was found to be the most vulnerable system in the study area.

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Management of saltwater intrusion in coastal aquifers using different wells systems: a case study of the Nile Delta aquifer in Egypt

Hydrogeology Journal ◽

10.1007/s10040-021-02344-w ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Ismail Abd-Elaty ◽

Akbar A. Javadi ◽

Hany Abd-Elhamid

Keyword(s):

Coastal Aquifers ◽

Saltwater Intrusion ◽

Nile Delta

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Investigation and control of seawater intrusion in the Eastern Nile Delta aquifer considering climate change

Water Science & Technology Water Supply ◽

10.2166/ws.2016.129 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 17 (2) ◽

pp. 311-323 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Hany F. Abd-Elhamid

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Sea Level Rise ◽

Sea Level ◽

Seawater Intrusion ◽

Brackish Water ◽

Agricultural Production ◽

Saltwater Intrusion ◽

Nile Delta ◽

Groundwater Resources ◽

And Control

Seawater intrusion is considered one of the main processes that degrade water quality by raising salinity. Over-pumping and decreasing recharge are considered the main causes of saltwater intrusion. Moreover, climate change and sea-level rise accelerate saltwater intrusion. In this paper SEAWAT code was used to study groundwater flow and seawater intrusion in the Eastern Nile Delta aquifer considering four scenarios of climate change including sea-level rise, increasing abstraction, decreasing recharge and the combination of these scenarios. The results showed that decreasing recharge has a significant effect on seawater intrusion. However, the combinations of these scenarios resulted in harmful intrusion and loss of groundwater. The soil salinity increased, which decreased agricultural production. The control of seawater intrusion and protection of groundwater resources and soil is very important. Different scenarios were implemented to protect the aquifer from seawater intrusion including decreasing abstraction, increasing recharge, abstracting brackish water and the combination of these three scenarios. The abstraction of brackish water gave a higher reduction of seawater intrusion and decreased groundwater table in the aquifer near the shore line, which protected the soil from salinity and increased agricultural production. However, the combination of these three scenarios gave the highest reduction of seawater intrusion.

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INVESTIGATION OF SOME POTENTIAL PARAMETERS AND ITS IMPACTS ON SALTWATER INTRUSION IN NILE DELTA AQUIFER

JES. Journal of Engineering Sciences ◽

10.21608/jesaun.2014.115039 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 42 (4) ◽

pp. 931-955

Author(s):

Ismail M. Abdelaty ◽

Hany F. Abd-Elhamid ◽

Maha R. Fahmy ◽

Gamal M. Abdelaal

Keyword(s):

Saltwater Intrusion ◽

Nile Delta ◽

Potential Parameters

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Analytical Solution of Saltwater Intrusion in Costal Aquifers Considering Climate Changes and Different Boundary Conditions

Water ◽

10.3390/w13070995 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (7) ◽

pp. 995

Author(s):

Ismail Abd-Elaty ◽

Martina Zeleňáková ◽

Katarína Krajníková ◽

Hany F. Abd-Elhamid

Keyword(s):

Analytical Solution ◽

Boundary Conditions ◽

Saltwater Intrusion ◽

Climate Changes ◽

Numerical Solutions ◽

Nile Delta ◽

Numerical Models ◽

Base Case ◽

The Difference

Groundwater contamination due to saltwater intrusion (SWI) has an extreme effect on freshwater quality. Analytical and numerical models could be used to investigate SWI. This study aims to develop an analytical solution to investigate SWI into coastal aquifers which was applied to a real case study at the Middle Nile Delta aquifer (MNDA). The study presented a new formula to predict the difference in depth of freshwater to seawater interface due to a change in boundary conditions. A Computer Program for Simulation of Three-Dimensional Variable-Density Ground-Water Flow and Transport (SEAWAT) is used for groundwater flow simulation and SWI and the results compared with the developed analytical solution. Four scenarios are considered in the study, including; the sea-level rise (SLR), reduction in recharge, over abstraction, and combination after 50 years (2070). The analytical solution gave good results compared to the numerical one where Equiline 1 intruded to 103 and 101.66 km respectively at the base case. The results also gave a good agreement between numerical and the analytical solution for SLR due to climate changes by 52.80 cm where the Equiline 1 reached to 105 and 103.45 km. However, the reduction in aquifer recharge by 18.50% resulted in an intrusion for the Equiline-1 to 111 and 108.25 km from the shoreline. Over pumping due to the increase in population by 89% has increased the SWI to reach 121,110.31 km, while it reached 131 and 111.32 km at a combination of the three scenarios, which represents the highest threatening scenario. Also, the difference between the two solutions reached 1.30%, 1.48%, 2.48%, 8.84%, and 15.02%, respectively for the base case and four scenarios. For the current case study, the analytical model gave good results compared to the numerical one, so that the analytical solution is recommended for similar studies, which could save the time and capabilities of computer required for the numerical solutions.

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