Groundwater Recharge Potentiality Mapping in Wadi Qena, Eastern Desert Basins of Egypt for Sustainable Agriculture Base Using Geomatics Approaches

Abstract

In arid and hyper-arid areas, groundwater is a precious and rare resource. The need for water supply has grown over the past few decades as a result of population growth, urbanization, and agricultural endeavors. This research aims to locate groundwater recharge potential zones (GWPZs) using multi-criteria evaluation (MCE) in the Wadi Qena Basin, Eastern Desert of Egypt, which represents one of the most promising valleys on which the government depends for land reclamations and developments. These approaches have been used to integrate and delineate the locations of high groundwater recharge and the potential of the Quaternary aquifer in the Wadi Qena basin. After allocating weight factors to identify features in each case based on infiltration, land use/land cover, slope, geology, topology, soil, drainage density, lineament density, rainfall, flow accumulation, and flow direction, these thematic maps were combined. The results of the GIS modeling led to the division of the area’s groundwater recharge potential into five groups, ranging from very high (in the western part) to very low (in the eastern part of the basin). The zones with the best prospects for groundwater exploration turned out to be the alluvial and flood plains, with their thick strata of sand and gravel. The groundwater recharge potential map was validated using data from the field and earlier investigations. The promising recharging areas show high suitability for soil cultivation. The results overall reveal that RS and GIS methodologies offer insightful instruments for more precise assessment, planning, and monitoring of water resources in arid regions and anywhere with similar setups for groundwater prospecting and management.

An Integrated Remote Sensing and GIS-Based Technique for Mapping Groundwater Recharge Zones: A Case Study of SW Riyadh, Central Saudi Arabia

“…Furthermore, one of the main factors influencing the existence of groundwater in a particular basin is the drainage density [83]. It is calculated by dividing a basin's total area by the sum of all of its drainages [84].…”

Strategic water resource management: pump stations in Fayoum City, Egypt

“…As a consequence, Egypt has experienced a significant decline in per capita water allocation, decreasing from approximately 2,000 m 3 /year to around 600 m 3 /year over the past few decades (Moghazy and Kaluarachchi, 2020). This challenge is further compounded by the presence of limited water resources within the country and the additional strain caused by the upstream consumption of water by neighboring nations (Al Maliki et al, 2020;Luo et al, 2020;Megahed et al, 2023).…”