ASSESSMENT OF GROUNDWATER RESOURCES AFTER GERD IN EGYPT

Groundwater is a valuable source in Egypt. However, it is expected to face many challenges in next few decades due to climate changes, rapid population increase and development in the upper Nile Basin countries. All of these factors are putting more stresses on this source. Groundwater sector in Egypt is expected to suffer of rapid declination in levels due to the reduction of water recharge in the renewable aquifers (Nile Valley and Delta aquifers). This decline is expected due to climate change (on the long term) and due to GERD reservoir filling and operation stages (on the short term), which will cut large volumes of water which used to reach to Egypt from August to October/November. Moreover, the availability of the water all the year time and turning the flow into controlled instead of natural flow will encourage for more uses of the water in Sudan, which means more shortage in water supply to Egypt. Such decline in surface water source will put more pressure on the renewable and non-renewable aquifers in Egypt. Other concerns, due to decline of surface water, are seawater intrusion and land salinization which will affect the groundwater quality and adversely affect the agricultural activities and production. This paper is considered as a key reference for who are interested in evaluating the impacts of GERD on groundwater resources in Egypt. This, in turn, can be used as a good guide for the stakeholders and decision makers for better management and to help in minimizing the expected negative impacts. So, Stakeholders and water specialists in Egypt should think in many other alternatives to overcome the challenges in water sector for the next decades. As explained before, traditional water supply is vulnerable to many reasons and nontraditional sources should be well studied and planned. Many alternatives are discussed in this paper.