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

Eissa, Mustafa A.; Thomas, James M.; Pohll, Greg; Hershey, R. L.; Dahab, Kamal A.; Dawoud, Maher I.; ElShiekh, Abdelfattah; Gomaa, Mohamed A.

Groundwater resource sustainability in the Wadi Watir delta, Gulf of Aqaba, Sinai, Egypt | Pérennité d’une ressource en eau souterraine dans le delta du Wadi Watir, Golfe d’Aqaba, Sinaï, Egypte Sustentabilidad del recurso de agua subterránea en el delta de Wadi Watir, Golfo de Aqaba, Sinaí, Egipto Sustentabilidade dos recursos hídricos subterrâneos no delta de Wadi Watir, Golfo de Aqaba, Sinai, Egito

2013

The Wadi Watir delta, in the arid Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, contains an alluvial aquifer underlain by impermeable Precambrian basement rock. The scarcity of rainfall during the last decade, combined with high pumping rates, resulted in degradation of water quality in the main supply wells along the mountain front, which has resulted in reduced groundwater pumping. Additionally, seawater intrusion along the coast has increased salinity in some wells. A three-dimensional (3D) groundwater flow model (MODFLOW) was calibrated using groundwater-level changes and pumping rates from 1982 to 2009; the groundwater recharge rate was estimated to be 1.58 X 10 (super 6) m (super 3) /year. A variable-density flow model (SEAWAT) was used to evaluate seawater intrusion for different pumping rates and well-field locations. Water chemistry and stable isotope data were used to calculate seawater mixing with groundwater along the coast. Geochemical modeling (NETPATH) determined the sources and mixing of different groundwaters from the mountainous recharge areas and within the delta aquifers; results showed that the groundwater salinity is controlled by dissolution of minerals and salts in the aquifers along flow paths and mixing of chemically different waters, including upwelling of saline groundwater and seawater intrusion. Future groundwater pumping must be closely monitored to limit these effects.

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