الفهرس 
ABSTRACTOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
 |  | from | 241 |  |  |
| | | from | 241 | | |
Abstract
Egypt is facing increasing challenges in the water sector driven by the increased demand for water and increased pressures on the water resources of the River Nile. Due to the water challenges in Egypt, a number of integrated water management projects are taking place in order to improve the irrigation and drainage networks in the Old Lands and to increase the efficiency of irrigated agricultural water use and services in addition to maximizing the benefits of embracing agricultural drainage water. Currently the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation (MWRI) is adopting a number of irrigation improvement and management projects in addition to various drainage projects, implemented by the Egyptian Public Authority for Drainage Projects (EPADP), aiming at increasing the efficiency and sustainability of water use, improving the water distribution and management. Thus, achieving the optimum benefits.
Main canals are a key component of the irrigation systems with their primary function being to convey water to the secondary canal system effectively and efficiently. However, with time these canals have evolved to be multi-functional both in terms of meeting demands for irrigation and by serving the municipal and industrial needs of communities. El Mahmoudia Canal, located in Egypt’s Western Delta, is selected to be a case study. The canal is 77.000 km long and is considered to be a main canal supplying irrigation water to approximately 240 thousand feddans of cropped area in El Beheira and Alexandria Governorates. Its importance lies in supplying municipal and industrial water to a considerable number of cities and villages. The main objective of the present study is to explore the sensitivity of El Mahmoudia canal to different assumptions in supply and demand and therefore establish strategic plans for managing the dynamics in water resources of the canal to meet the projected discharges up to the year 2050.
The ISIS one dimensional hydraulic model was used to integrate the canal supplies and demands over a typical 6 month period, starting from April through September, and to assess the sensitivity of the water balance and canal performance to trends in supplies and demands. The model for El Mahmoudia canal has been developed and shown to be able to replicate the available recorded data along the canal during the summer season of 2008. The simulated and observed hydraulic data were in close agreement showing that the model performed satisfactorily. Therefore, the hydraulic model was used to assist in recommendations for the canal operation and management under different potential changes in fresh water supplies aiming at ensuring the efficient and sustainable use of El Mahmoudia canal’s water and land resources.
In order to investigate the performance and capacity of El Mahmoudia canal to deliver projected discharges up to the year 2050, and identify required physical interventions, operation procedures, and management practices which will ensure safe conveyance for current and future demands, three approaches were presented in this study each internally divided into eight scenarios. Scenarios have been chosen every 5 years to reflect the potential increase in municipal requirements and assess their impact on the irrigation system and hydraulic conditions of El Mahmoudia canal. where the scenarios cause the existing system to fail, potential interventions and management strategies were postulated and their impacts reviewed. Approach (I) assumed that El Mahmoudia canal was going to receive all its water requirements to fulfill industrial and agricultural demands in addition