Ashour, M.A.; Abdel Nasser, M.S.; Abu-Zaid, T.S. Field Study to Evaluate Water Loss in the Irrigation Canals of Middle Egypt: A Case Study of the Al Maanna Canal and Its Branches, Assiut Governorate. Limnol. Rev.2023, 23, 70-92.
Ashour, M.A.; Abdel Nasser, M.S.; Abu-Zaid, T.S. Field Study to Evaluate Water Loss in the Irrigation Canals of Middle Egypt: A Case Study of the Al Maanna Canal and Its Branches, Assiut Governorate. Limnol. Rev. 2023, 23, 70-92.
Ashour, M.A.; Abdel Nasser, M.S.; Abu-Zaid, T.S. Field Study to Evaluate Water Loss in the Irrigation Canals of Middle Egypt: A Case Study of the Al Maanna Canal and Its Branches, Assiut Governorate. Limnol. Rev.2023, 23, 70-92.
Ashour, M.A.; Abdel Nasser, M.S.; Abu-Zaid, T.S. Field Study to Evaluate Water Loss in the Irrigation Canals of Middle Egypt: A Case Study of the Al Maanna Canal and Its Branches, Assiut Governorate. Limnol. Rev. 2023, 23, 70-92.
Abstract
Egyptians face a significant challenge in meeting the growing population's water needs for agriculture and food production. To address this, policymakers and researchers have implemented the National Great Project for Lining and Rehabilitation of All Open Canals of the Irrigation Network to reduce irrigation water losses through seepage, evaporation, and evapotranspiration. The current field study evaluates water losses from the Al Maanna canal network in Assiut governorate, Middle Egypt, using empirical formulas and field ponding methods. The obtained results indicated that the Moleth-Worth formula is more compatible and gives results that are in good agreement with the field measurements carried out. The estimated seepage losses from the existing, distorted Al Maanna canal network using the Moleth-Worth formula and field ponding method were about 2.07 and 2.20 million m3/month, respectively. Also, the calculated maximum evaporation and evapotranspiration losses were about 0.086 and 1.133 million m3/month, respectively. Consequently, the total water losses might be about 3.42 million m3/month, representing nearly 13.63% of the Al Maanna canal’s total discharge. After completing the lining process, seepage losses from lined canals were determined to be only about 0.472 million m3/month using the ponding method, while evaporation and evapotranspiration losses will be significantly decreased after canal rehabilitation. Hence, lining the Al Maanna canal network can decrease the total water losses by about 84%, which is sufficient to recommend and encourage the lining processes where the value of the gained quantities of water exceeds all the implementation expenses, in addition to other moral, cultural, and environmental gains.
Keywords
Al Maanna Canal; seepage losses; evaporation losses; evapotranspiration losses
Subject
Engineering, Civil Engineering
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
