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The Nubian Sandstone Basin in North Africa, A Source of Irrigation Water for Desert Oases

1996; Springer Nature (Netherlands); Linguagem: Inglês

10.1007/978-94-011-0391-6_14

1872-4663

Mamdouh Shahin,

Water management and technologies

The Nubian sandstone basin in northern Africa is presented in this paper. This basin has total a total surface of about 1.8 million km2encompassing the north-western part of the Sudan, Egypt west of the Nile, the extreme north-east of Chad and southern and eastern Libya. This surface is characterized by its extreme aridity. Groundwater is present in the Nubian basin in a range of geological strata, and has been used since time immemorial for small scale potable supplies and for limited irrigation purposes. The only inhabited areas are located in a series of depressions called the oases, the most important of which are the Kharga, Dakla, Farafra, Bahariya and Siwa in Egypt, and Kufra in Libya. The last few decades have witnessed accumulating evidence of the huge quantities of fresh groundwater the Nubian sandstone contain in storage and can transmit. Safely exploited aquifers can secure the success of carefully planned agricultural development projects. Thirty-five years ago the Egyptian administration supported desert reclamation and development by initiating the New Valley (principally Kharga and Dakhla Oases) project. A few years later the Libyan authorities began the work in the Great man-made river project, to which the Nubian basin underlying the Kufra Oasis is a source of supply. Both projects aim at expanding the irrigated surface in the relevant oases. The present paper describes the hydrogeology of the Nubian basin. It also critically reviews the exploitation of its water for land irrigation and reclamation purposes.