Arab J Geosci

DOI 10.1007/s12517-015-1837-0

ORIGINAL PAPER

Geoinformatics application for assessing the potential

of rainwater harvesting in arid regions. Case study:
El Daba’a area, Northwestern Coast of Egypt
Mohamed Yousif & Olaf Bubenzer

Received: 14 September 2014 / Accepted: 6 February 2015

# Saudi Society for Geosciences 2015

Abstract In the light of the current situation of water re- Introduction

sources in Egypt, where it has a deficit in those resources,
the rainwater harvesting and assessment of its potentialities Growing population and escalation in per capita consumption
became necessary. In the present study, an attempt is made of water have implications for water supplies (DeBano 2000).
to define a decision based on scientific approach for identify- Human activities continue to alter the land at unprecedented
ing the most appropriate sites for rainwater harvesting. This rates, magnitudes and spatial scales (Turner 1994; Vitousek
approach is based on GIS data layers which include DEM, et al. 1997) and are affecting water resources through urban-
landforms, geologic setting, watershed area, rainfall amounts, ization, agriculture, transportation, and deforestation. FAO
drainage lines, morphometric parameters, flow accumulation, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
flow direction, slope, and surface runoff. It also includes a (2003) identifies agriculture as the largest single user of wa-
verification of the site suitability through field investigations. ter, with about 75 % of the world’s freshwater being currently
El Daba’a area has been chosen because it has a lack of water used for irrigation. According to the United Nations Environ-
for agriculture and drinking purposes. In addition, this area ment Program (UNEP 2012), more than two billion people
has special interest because of a planned nuclear power plant will live under conditions of high water stress by the year
there. The obtained results reveal that the study area contains 2050 suggesting that water could be a limiting factor for
eight basins which have slightly intensive drainage network. development in several regions of the world. In the arid re-
The morphometric analyses of the studied basins reveal their gions, rainwater harvesting could be an efficient approach in
opportunities for surface runoff. Three of them are showing order to harness the excess runoff that is often lost, and hence
high hazard degrees. These basins have actual runoff (Q) can be used during deficit times. This effort is increasingly
ranges between 16.5 and 25 mm annually resulted from aver- being recognized as critical in regions experiencing urbaniza-
age rainfall of 164 mm. Therefore, management of rainwater tion and facing uneven water supplies (Sekar and Randhir
harvesting and protections from flash floods were recom- 2007). Harvesting and conservation of rainwater is central
mended. Many rainwater harvesting structures, for example to the attainment of economic as well as the financial sustain-
concert dams, alternative earth dikes, surface water reservoirs, ability of water-deficit areas (Shah 1998). Rainwater harvest-
and cisterns, should be established. ing has multiple benefits, which is revealed in several studies.
Water harvesting is known to increase cropping intensity and
increase groundwater levels (Sur and Jindal 2001). It has
Keywords Egypt . Rainwater harvesting . Geomorphology . been promoted to solve water problem for agricultural and
Surface runoff . GIS . Remote sensing domestic uses in semiarid regions (Oweis et al. 2012; Lan-
caster 2013; Li et al. 2000; Li and Gong 2002). Despite its
M. Yousif (*)
many benefits, water harvesting is a challenge in many re-
Department of Geology, Desert Research Center, P.O.B. 11753,
Cairo, Egypt gions because of the variability in precipitation (Tollner et al.
e-mail: [email protected] 2004). In many arid areas, the most critical problem is often
the inter- and intra-seasonal variability (Barron et al. 2003).
O. Bubenzer
Moreover, large-scale practical implementation of water har-
Institute of Geography, University of Cologne,
Albertus-Magnus-Platz, 50923 Cologne, Germany vesting research results via extension activities poses a great
e-mail: [email protected] challenge (Kronen 1994).
 Arab J Geosci

The major challenge which is facing Egypt nowadays is the of water for agriculture and drinking purposes. Many commu-
need for better development and management of natural re- nities are depending mainly on the rainwater for all life uses.
sources, to meet the needs of a growing nation (El-Raey Also, the expanding in agricultural activities needs an increase
1998). Therefore, the ideal development of the Egyptian de- of the water supply. In addition, this area has special interest
serts and establishing of new communities and settlements are because of a planned nuclear power plant there. In this regard,
among the urgent national targets. The northwestern coast of efforts will be made to shed light on possible flooding risks.
Egypt which represents a portion of the southern Mediterra- The basic man-made feature in the study area is the BAlex-
nean coast can be considered one of the promising and strate- Matrouh highway^ which divides the northern part of the
gic regions for future sustainable development, and this in turn study area into two divisions. North of the highway, agricul-
depends principally on the availability of water resources. In ture areas are prevailing. South of it, the main land uses are the
this context, surface water harvesting is a possible solution as urban, agriculture, and grazing, respectively (Aljenid, and
it represents one of the indispensable water supplies, which Mohamed 2007). El Daba’a Town is the main settlement
should be assessed for each area along the northwestern coast (Fig. 1). Different tiny villages, which belong to the BEl
of Egypt, which receives regularly winter rains. Daba’a Town Municipality^ are scattered in the surrounding,
The main objective of this paper is to employ the data such as Ras El Hussan village which depends on rainfall in
integration (geoinformatics and field data) to assess the poten- various purposes. The total population of BEl Daba’a
tial of rainwater harvesting in remote and data scarce area. Municipality^ reaches about 43,000, while the populated
Also, the current research aims to set up recommendations covers 191 km2 and is administratively divided into 13 rural
concerning the future rainwater harvesting in the study area. local units (IDSC 2010). The total area of cultivated land is
The recommendations which will be provided have special estimated to be 263.80 km2 while the total cropped area
interest where they will be based on a scientific approach reaches to 122.93 km2 (IDSC 2010). The regional climate is
and real data therefore can be implemented through the gov- hot-dry in summer and rainy-warm in winter. According to
ernmental sector or residents. Flash floods can be occurring in meteorological data of the European Centre for Medium-
arid regions as a consequence of excessive rainfall and occa- Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF 2010), the maximum av-
sionally cause major losses of property and life (Subyani erage temperature over the period 1996–2008 is 22 °C in
2009). Accordingly, the present study pays attention to the January and 31.6 °C in September. The minimum average
probability of flash flood and its hazard, which can abort temperatures are 7.2 °C in February and 23.7 °C in August,
any development bases. The approach of our research is based respectively. Vetter et al. (2014) stated that at the Matrouh
on the combination of the field collected data and the meteorological station (130 km to the west of the study area),
geoinformatics applications. Geoinformatics (satellite remote long-term average seasonal rainfall (Pμ) from September
sensing, Global Positioning System BGPS^ and Geographic 1951 to August 1992 amounts to 138.5 mm, with a range of
Information System BGIS^) play a vital role in providing pre- annual totals from 47 to 277 mm and a standard deviation (Pσ)
cise information on nature, extent, and spatial distribution of of 59.7 mm. They also mentioned that rain in September may
land resources to assess their potentials and limitations for be assumed to contribute to soil moisture of the rainy winter
planning, monitoring, and management towards sustainable season; the hydrological year is therefore assumed to start in
development (Reddy 2013). GIS has been recommended as September. December and January are the most humid months
a decision making and problem solving tool in rainwater har- with monthly averages of 33 and 32.4 mm (1951–1992).
vesting during the decision-making process (Mbilinyi et al. The study area was not subjected before for any previous
2005). El-Awar et al. (2000), for example, used a hydro- studies concerning rainwater harvesting by using GIS and
spatial hierarchical method in dry areas for sitting small water remote sensing. El Shamy (1968) studied the geology of
harvesting reservoirs. Also, the determination of rainwater water and soil resources in El Daba’a area, where he pro-
harvesting potentialities based on GIS data layers was vided information about the hydrogeologic situation in the
achieved through some recent studies (e.g., Mahmoud et al. light of the available data at this time. Some researches have
2014a, b; Mahmoud and Alazba 2014). been achieved to the west of the study area, but rare were
focused on the rainwater harvesting. Hammad (1972) stud-
ied the geomorphology and hydrogeology of Ras El Hekma,
The study area Misak (1974) studied the geomorphology and geology of El
Daba’a-Ras El Hekma area, Yousif and Bubenzer (2012)
El Daba’a area is located on the northwestern coast of Egypt, and Yousif and Bubenzer (2013) evaluated the water re-
approximately 130 km east-southeast from Matrouh as the sources in Fuka Basin and Ras El Hekma to the west of
governorate capital (Fig. 1). It extends from 28° E to 28° 41′ the study area. Recently, Vetter et al. (2014) discussed the
E and from 30° 48′ N to 31° 05′ N, and covers about 1, (ancient) watershed management systems in the vicinities of
770 km2. El Daba’a area has been chosen because of its lack Matrouh city.
Arab J Geosci

Fig. 1 Key map of the study area. Field photos show some features of the region (a–e)

Data sources and methods surface runoff is still present. Here, the soil cover, the geologic
setting, and the main slope were recorded in order to evaluate
In this study, a variety of data sources and methods is used as their potentialities for rainwater harvesting. During the field
follows (Fig. 2): trip, in addition to the satellite image, topographic maps (1:25,
000) and the geologic maps (Conoco 1986) were used.
Fieldworks
GIS and remote sensing
Fieldworks were done in April 2014 and comprised identify-
ing of the geomorphologic and geological setting of the study The topographical conditions provide a decisive prerequisite
area. A survey for the existing activities of rainwater harvest- for surficial rainwater harvesting. Therefore, for the present
ing was done, and their locations were determined by GPS. study, three types of digital elevation models (SRTM-C, AS-
Five sites of the study area were investigated in detail with TER GDEM, and SRTM-X) were evaluated. With regard to
regard to the geological conditions. The recorded ground data the drainage lines calculated from each data set, the SRTM-C
from these sites were used for an area-wide interpretation of a data provided the best results and were therefore used for the
landsat image. In addition, many sites were checked to evalu- further modeling in combination with the most recent En-
ate the capability of rainwater harvesting, where the traces of hanced Thematic Mapper (ETM+) and landsat 8 (LC8)
 Arab J Geosci

Fig. 2 Flowchart of the study indicating the data sources and methodology

images. The latter data were employed for visual interpreta- Landsat GeoCover ETM+ 2000 (Mosaics Tile N-35-
tion of surface feature, geology, and also for illustrate the 30.ETM-EarthSat, published on 2004) which provided by
recommendation sites. All the data (SRTM-C, ETM+ and Global Land Cover Facility (http://glcf.umiacs.umd.edu/
LC8) were projected on the Universal Transverse Mercator data/mosaic/) with spatial resolution 15 m was used with
(UTM) with WGS84 datum in a Geographic Information Sys- field investigations and the geological map (1:500,000,
tem (GIS) for further correlation of features. CONOCO 1986) to identify the geology of the study area.
SRTM-C elevation data are publicly available for a The GeoCover ETM+ is a global set of regional images to
near-global scale at 3 arcsec (∼90 m) spatial resolution create a mosaic from the landsat GeoCover data set which
with 16-m vertical accuracy (Farr and Kobrick 2000; was designed at NASA Space Center. The landsat 8 satellite
Bubenzer and Bolten 2008). These data were obtained image (LC8, 2014), with panchromatic band (spatial
using dual Space-borne Imaging Radar (SIR-C) C-band resolution 15 m) was created by the U.S. Geological Survey
wavelength (5.6 cm), which is similar to Radarsat-1 in (USGS, http://www.usgs.gov/) which contains 11 bands, was
terms of its penetration ability of the dry sand to portray used in the process of identifying rainwater harvesting sites.
near surface features (Ghoneim and El-Baz 2007). Al- The interpretation of the landsat image was done by using
though the SRTM-C data have coarser spatial resolution ERDAS IMAGINE (ver. 9.3) where the images were first
in comparison to ASTER and SRTM-X data, they have re-projected and subset to the study area, and then imported
proven to be more accurate in revealing the surface topog- into the ESRI ArcMap GIS 10. The spatial analysis of various
raphy, especially for drainage extraction in poorly vegetat- data was carried out using the ArcGIS 10 software, in order to
ed areas (Pryde et al. 2007). The processing of SRTM-C interpolate the data spatially and to convert the data to the
DEM is started by constructing a mosaic to extract the requested layers (geomorphology, geology, drainage lines,
watersheds of the study area. The hydrology tools of ESRI watersheds, flow directions, and flow accumulation). All
Arc GIS v.10 were employed to identify and fill all sink in maps in the present research were prepared in the ArcGIS 10.
the resulting mosaic. The flow direction grid was extracted
based on the D8 flow direction algorithm, which is widely Precipitation data estimated from satellite (TRMM)
used in arid environments (e.g., Foody et al. 2004;
Ghoneim 2008; Ghoneim and Foody 2012). Next, the Since the runoff volume is associated with the average of
drainage network was extracted by calculating the flow precipitation, the detailed data during long and short periods
accumulation for each cell. The density of the drainage should be analyzed to achieve the current research. The Trop-
network was defined using an appropriate threshold of ical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) is a joint endeavor
300 cells of contributing drainage area. between NASA and Japan’s National Space Development
Arab J Geosci

Agency. It is designed to monitor and study tropical rainfall Morphometric analyses

and the associated release of energy that helps to power the
global atmospheric circulation, shaping both global weather Morphometric analysis provides a quantitative description of
and climate. The spatial resolution is 0.25°×0.25° for (3B43), the watershed geometry to understand the initial slope or in-
which can be accessed with the GES DISC Mirador system equalities in the rock hardness, structural controls, recent di-
(http://mirador.gsfc.nasa.gov). Analyses and visualizations astrophism, geological and geomorphic history of the water-
used in this study were produced with the Giovanni online shed (e.g., Strahler 1964; Clarke 1966). This can be achieved
data system, developed and maintained by the NASA GES through measurement of linear, aerial, and relief aspects of
DISC. Three types of TRMM data were analyzed as follows: watershed and slope contributions (Nag and Chakraborty
2003). Quantitative morphometric analysis was carried out
– TRMM online visualization and analysis system in the studied basins and catchment areas by the use of GIS
(TOVAS) was used to obtain the accumulated rainfall in order to determine their linear, areal and relief aspects.
during 15 years (TRMM_3B43_acc., 1998–2014). A total 23 morphometric parameters were determined
– Area averaged time series (TRMM_3B43_acc., 1998– (Table 1). The interpretation of the obtained values for the
2014) different parameters was carried out according to the schemes
– Monthly global precipitation (GPC), accumulated rainfall of Horton 1932, Schumm 1956, and (Strahler 1957 and
(1998–2010), where no available data after 2010. Strahler 1964) for an evaluation of the surface hydrology with

Table 1 Methodology adopted for computation of morphometric parameters

Serial number Morphometric parameters Units Methods References

Linear
1 Stream order (u) Hierarchical order, DEM analyses by Arc GIS Strahler (1964)
Sum of all stream numbers (SNu) Counted from analysis, (Nu is the number of order u)
Stream length (Lu) Km DEM analyses by Arc GIS Horton (1945)
2 Sum of all stream lengths (SLu) Km DEM analyses by Arc GIS
3 Length of main channel (Lm) Km Measured by Arc GIS
4 Order of the main channel (K) Identified from analysis
5 Bifurcation ratio (Rb) Rb=Nu/Nu+1 Horton (1945)
6 Weighted mean bifurcation ratio (WMRb) WMRb=Sum{(Rb u/u+1)×(Nu +Nu+1)}/SumN Strahler (1953)
7 Sinuosity (Si) Si=Lm/Lb Gregory and Walling
(1973)
Relief
8 Relief (R) M Calculated from DEM analyses
9 Internal relief of the main channel (E) M E=(E85−E10), E85 and E10 are the elevation of points Strahler (1952)
at 85 and 10 % of the main channel from its mouth
10 Slope index (SIn%) Sin%=(E/0.75 Lm)×100 Majure and Soenksen
(1991)
11 Relief ratio (Rr) Rr=R/Lb Schumm (1956)
12 Ruggedness number (Rn) Rn=D×R Melton (1957)
Areal
13 Area (A) Km2 Measured by Arc GIS
14 Perimeter (P) Km Measured by Arc GIS
15 Basin length (Lb) Km Measured by Arc GIS
16 Drainage density (D) Km−1 D=SLu/A Horton (1945)
17 Stream frequency (F) Km−2 F=SNu/A Horton (1945)
18 Circulatory ratio (Rc) Rc=4πA/P2 Miller (1953)
19 Elongation ratio (Re) Re=2(A/π)0.5/Lb Schumm (1956)
20 Length of overland flow (Lo) Km Lo=1/(2D) Horton (1945)
21 Drainage texture ration (Rt) Km−1 Rt=SNu/P Horton (1945)
22 Texture ratio (T) T=SN1/P where SN1 Total number of first-order streams Horton (1945)
23 Basin shape index (Ish) Ish=1.27. A/Lb2 Hagget (1956)
 Arab J Geosci

regard to the flood hazard of the studied basins. Eleven of amount of runoff generated from annual rainfall where this
these parameters were identified to have a direct effect on amount should be harvested. No daily regular meteorological
flash flood events: watershed area (A), drainage density (D), measurements had been made within the study area, but
stream frequency (F), basin shape index (Ish), relief ratio (Rr), monthly rainfall data is available. Under these circumstances,
ruggedness ratio (Rn), slope index (Sin%), drainage texture the employment of sophisticated methods of calculating run-
ratio (Rt), weighted mean bifurcation ratio (WMRb), length of off was inapplicable. This problem was tackled by applying
overland flow (Lo) and sinuosity (Si). All these parameters the curve number method. The curve number (CN) is a hy-
have a directly proportional relationship with the hazard mor- drologic parameter used to describe the surface water runoff
phometric parameters except for (WMRb), (Lo) and (Si) potential for drainage area, and it is a function of land use, soil
which show an inverse proportion. A hazard scale number type, and soil moisture.
starting with 1 (the lowest) to 5 (the highest) has been assigned The present study used the curve number which was cal-
to all parameters. The distribution of the hazard degrees for the culated by Mahmoud 2014, where it has more advantages than
studied drainage basins have been carried out as follows the tabulated curve numbers in (USDA-SCS 1986).
(comp. Bajabaa et al. 2013): Mahmoud (2014) conducted a study to estimate the curve
number and the potential runoff coefficient using geographic
– Determination of the minimum and maximum values of information system (GIS) based on the area’s hydrologic soil
each morphometric parameter for all drainage basins and group, land use, land cover, and slope. He also used a global
their sub-basins. monthly precipitation data and the evapotranspiration values
– Assessment of the actual hazard degree for the all param- to estimate the rainfall surplus (P-ET). Therefore, the curve
eters which are located between the minimum and max- number which used in the present work is more precise be-
imum values depends on a trial to derive the empirical cause it based on many layers which were not used before for
relation between the relative hazard degree of a basin with the study area (i.e., evapotranspiration values and rainfall
respect to flash floods and the morphometric parameters. surplus).
– The equal spacing or simple linear interpolation between The runoff volume estimation is expressed mathematically
data points procedure was chosen. as follows (USDA-SCS 1972 and USDA-SCS 1986):

Qðactual runoff Þ ¼ ðP−IaÞ2 =ðP þ 0 :8 S Þ f or P > 0:2 S

Assuming a straight linear relation exists between the sam- ð3Þ
ple points, the intermediate values can be calculated from the
geometric relationship (Davis 1975) and (Sewidan 2000).
Ia ¼ 0:2 S ð4Þ
4ðX −X minÞ
Hazard degree¼ þ1 ð1Þ
ðX max−X minÞ
A dimensionless curve number CN is defined such as 0<
CN>100
For the parameters which show an inverse proportion, the
hazard degree was calculated using the following equation: S ¼ ð25; 400=CN Þ–254 ð5Þ

4ðX −X maxÞ
Hazard degree ¼ þ1 ð2Þ
ðX min−X maxÞ
Where P is the total rainfall, Ia is initial abstraction, S is
potential maximum retention. On the other hand, the weighted
mean curve number (CN) is calculated for the areas which
Where X is the value of the morphometric parameters to be have mixed curve number values as follow:
assessed for the hazard degree for each basin, Xmin and Xmax
are the minimum and maximum values of the morphometric Weighted CN ¼ ðCN i X Ai Þ=A ð6Þ
parameters of all basins, respectively. The summation of the
hazard degrees (1+2) for each basin represents the final flood
hazard of that basin. Where CNi is the value of curve number for a partial area
Ai, and A is the total basin area.
Estimation of surface runoff


The total runoff volume f or an area Qv m3
Rainfall–runoff relationships are important for any rainwater

harvesting system. The present work is concerned with the ¼ Qðactual runoff mÞ X A area m2 ð7Þ
Arab J Geosci

From Eqs. (3, 4 and 5) the actual runoff in the present study northward sloping and has a width up to 10 km in some
was estimated for each basin, and the total volume of the places. This plain is characterized by the occurrences of sev-
runoff was estimated by using Eq. 7. Finally, an evaluation eral landforms: ridges, depressions, modern beach, fore shore
of the outputs was carried out by calculating the percentages dunes, and lakes. The coastal plain is dotted by elongated
of the runoff volume to the total rainfall in the study area. ridges which have elevation ranges between +7 and +50 m
above sea level (a.s.l.). The ridges are separated by low-laying
depressions (10 m a.s.l). They are composed of oolitic lime-
Results stone which has different degree of hardness. Their shape and
width are controlled by the original shape of El Daba’a head-
Geomorphologic setting lands as well as by the drainage lines dissecting the area.
These ridges have different orientations; E–W, NE–SW, and
According to the geomorphological conditions the area of NW–SE directions, and can be distinguished to coastal ridge
study can be divided into three main geomorphologic units: (first ridge) which represent the recent one, and the second
coastal plain, piedmont plain, and tableland (Figs. 3 and 4). ridge (second ridge) which is older. The depressions between
them are covered by thick alluvial deposits which are mainly
Coastal plain consisting of mud or sandy loam. It can be stated that loamy
soils are more suitable for runoff harvesting due to their lowest
The coastal plain represents the low land area running adja- infiltration potential. The modern beach occupied a long and
cent to the coastal line in an east–west direction. It is generally narrow strip which is covered by loose, snow white oolitic

Fig. 3 Geomorphologic setting of the study area is illustrated on 3D and 2D views, data extracted from DEM calculated by the use of SRTM-C data
Arab J Geosci
 Arab J Geosci

ƒFig. 4 Cross sections (A–A′, B–B′, and C–C′) and field photos which presence of crust layer. This crust is composed of hard dolo-
show the main landforms of the study area. Locations of the cross sections mitic limestone capping the rock exposures and can be con-
are illustrated on the DEM
sidered as secondary product which results from the chemical
weathering of limestone strata. Within this crust, shell remains
sands. The fore shore dunes are formed of white oolitic sands of Helix species and echinoid spines are present.
and are either developed into low dunes or ripple marked On the other hand, the Quaternary sediments include Pleis-
arranged perpendicular to the direction of the prevailing wind. tocene and Holocene deposits. The Pleistocene deposits have a
Lakes are recorded to the east and west of El Daba’a headland, wide distribution in the coastal area where they consist of oolitic
the ground level of these lakes is near the sea level and thus limestone. The oolitic limestone is composed of oolitic grains
they are subjected to processes of sea intrusion. mixed with quartz sands and shell fragments, which are
cemented together by fine calcium carbonate. The Holocene
The piedmont plain deposits are represented by a variety of unconsolidated deposits,
differentiated into alluvial, aeolian as well as salt marches de-
Southward from the coastal plain, the piedmont plain unit is posits. Alluvial deposits are predominant in the shallow topo-
located and has ground elevation ranging from over 40 m a.s.l. graphic conditions; they are composed of muddy sands, silt, and
in the northern part to 75 m a.s.l. southward with gently slop- clay, showing enrichment in carbonate grains, rock fragments,
ing northward with a gradient of about 1 m/km (1‰). The and gravel. Aeolian deposits are recognized along the coast as
calcareous loamy deposits are covering the floor of the plain, dunes of carbonaceous nature or as inland dune composed of
while the inland ridges are scattered in the northern and mid- quartz sands. Salt marches deposits occupy lowland near the
dle parts. The eastern side of the plain is occupied by a shallow shore and composed of a mixture of calcareous clays, gypsum,
topographic area (30–40 m a.s.l.) which is covered by accu- quartz grains, and carbonate matter, and in a few localities, they
mulation of loose sandy deposits. The inland ridges are com- contain salt crystals and black organic matter.
posed of hard to very hard oolitic limestone, the outer portion
of which is developed into very hard siliceous crust. Morphometric analyses

Tableland The obtained results from DEM analyses reveal that the study
area contains eight basins which have slightly intensive drain-
The tableland occupies the southern part of the study area and age networks (Fig. 6). These basins have sizes between
represents the main watershed where its surface is transverse 46.52 km2 (basin 7) and 432.04 km2 (basin 2). The morpho-
by a series of shallow valleys. The elevation of the tableland is metric parameters of these basins have been computed and
varies between 75 and 125 m a.s.l. It is characterized by north- summarized as follows (Table 2):
wards slopes and the development of a hard crust on the top of
the weathered surface. This hard crust layer has a thickness Stream orders (Nu) and stream length (Lu)
that varies between 20 and 40 cm and is composed of dolo-
mitic limestone. Therefore, it provides a good chance for ac- The most of the drainage basins are of the fourth stream order,
cumulation of surface water runoff which is directed to the only basins nos. 2 and 8 have fifth orders. Dendritic drainage
low land area to the north. The tableland is composed mainly pattern was noted in the tableland parts, indicating the homo-
of massive Pliocene and Middle Miocene limestone rocks. It geneity in texture and lack of structural control. The total
is covered partially by accumulations of aeolian sand dunes. stream lengths of the studied basins range between 47.82 km
The tableland occupies areas of 750 km2 and its surface gra- (basin 7) and 436.47 km (basin 2). The stream length is hence
dient is 2.25 m/km (2.25 ‰). an indicator of the relation between the climate, vegetation,
and the resistance of rocks and soils to erosion.
Geologic aspects
Bifurcation Ratio (Rb) and Sinuosity (Si)
The area of study is covered by sedimentary rocks belonging
to both Quaternary and Tertiary periods. The obtained results Bifurcation ratio is not same from one order to its next order;
from the investigations of five sites (Fig. 5) reveal that the therefore, it has been expressed by its weighted mean value.
Middle Miocene deposits are the dominated rocks to the south The values of weighted mean bifurcation ratio are range be-
of the study area where they made up of fossilferrous chalky tween three (basin 7) and 5.16 (basin 1). These values are
and dolomitic limestone with intercalations of marl and clay. relatively high (more than 3), which indicate a structural con-
The Pliocene sediments are of limited distribution in the in- trol in the drainage development. On the other hand, the ob-
vestigated area. No clear exposures are recognized at the ta- tained sinuosity values are more than unity; therefore, the
bleland. These Tertiary deposited are characterized by the studied basins have on average travel time of water flow to
 Arab J Geosci

Fig. 5 Geologic setting of the study area (Landsat GeoCover ETM+ 2000 with panchromatic band, bands combinations 2, 4, and 7). a Salt marches in
the coastal area, b undifferentiated quaternary deposits, c oolitic limestone of the inland ridge, d and e Dolomitic limestone represent the crust layer

Fig. 6 Data layers extracted from the DEM analysis and used for determination of morphometric parameters by the use of Arc GIS a DEM, b basins of
the study area, c drainage lines, d and e stream orders of the drainage networks
Arab J Geosci

Table 2 Results of the morphometric analysis for the basins in the study area

Serial number Morphometric parameters Basin 1 Basin 2 Basin 3 Basin 4 Basin 5 Basin 6 Basin 7 Basin 8

Linear
1 Sum of stream numbers (SNu) 37 180 45 64 26 31 25 164
2 Sum of stream lengths (SLu) 106.88 436.47 126.56 145.23 53.97 52.34 47.82 417.79
3 Length of main channel (Lm) 15.5 35.5 23.5 30.4 16.8 17.2 10.1 38.0
4 Order of the main channel (K) 3 5 4 4 3 4 4 5
5 Bifurcation ratio (Rb) 5.5 3.6 3.4 3.7 4.6 2.9 2.6 3.4
6 Weighted mean bifurcation ratio (WMRb) 5.16 3.27 3.7 4.2 5 3.4 3 3.79
7 Sinuosity (Si) 1.24 1.12 1.10 1.10 1.08 1.10 1.29 1.09
Relief
8 Relief (R) 35.5 95 70 90 80 85 81 125
9 Internal relief of the main channel (E) 19 46 30 69 44 51 40 44
10 Slope index (SIn%) 0.0016 0.0017 0.0017 0.0030 0.0035 0.0040 0.0053 0.0015
11 Relief ratio (Rr) 0.00284 0.00300 0.00329 0.00326 0.00516 0.00546 0.01038 0.00357
12 Ruggedness number (Rn) 0.039 0.096 0.074 0.085 0.069 0.068 0.083 0.130
Areal
13 Area (A) 97.25 432.04 120.04 153.78 62.96 65.02 46.52 400.49
14 Perimeter (P) 52.38 145.54 72.65 98.23 46.82 45.91 36.81 124.48
15 Basin length (Lb) 12.50 31.70 21.30 27.60 15.50 15.58 7.80 35.00
16 Drainage density (D) 1.10 1.01 1.05 0.94 0.86 0.81 1.03 1.04
17 Stream frequency (F) 0.38 0.42 0.37 0.42 0.41 0.48 0.54 0.41
18 Circulatory ratio (Rc) 0.44 0.25 0.28 0.20 0.36 0.39 0.43 0.32
19 Elongation ratio (Re) 0.89 0.74 0.58 0.51 0.58 0.59 0.99 0.65
20 Length of overland flow (Lo) 0.45 0.49 0.47 0.53 0.58 0.62 0.49 0.48
21 Drainage Texture (Rt) 0.71 1.24 0.62 0.65 0.56 0.68 0.68 1.32
22 Texture ratio (T) 0.57 0.85 0.45 0.50 0.45 0.48 0.46 0.96
23 Basin shape index (Ish) 0.79 0.55 0.34 0.26 0.33 0.34 0.97 0.42

the outlet. These conditions provide a good chance for surface where the slope index (SIn %) ranges between 0.0016 % (ba-
water runoff and groundwater recharge. sin 1) and 0.0053 % (basin 7) with an average value of
0.0028 % for all basins. Ruggedness number indicates the
Relief (R), Relief ratio (Rr), Slope index (SIn %), structural complexity of the terrain. The obtained low values
and Ruggedness number (Rn) (ranges between 0.039 in basin 1 and 0.13 in basin 8) indicate
low effects of erosion process.
The elevation difference between the highest and lowest
points of the watershed is its total relief, whereas relief ratio Drainage density (D) and stream frequency (F)
is the total relief of watershed divided by the maximum length
of the watershed. The obtained values of the total relief are Drainage density indicates the closeness of spacing of chan-
35 m (basin 1) and 125 m (basin 8). The relief measures the nels, thus providing a quantitative measure of the average
overall steepness of a watershed, and is an indicator of erosion length of stream channels for a whole basin. It is also an
processes operating on the slope of a watershed. The relief indicator of drainage efficiency of the watershed. The obtain-
ratio normally increases with decreasing watershed areas. It ed values are ranges between 0.81 km −1 (basin 6) and
is noticed that the relief ratio values are small (ranges between 1.1 km−1 (basin 1). These values are comparably high and
0.0028 in basin 1, and 0.0054 in basin 6), indicating a general are developed in the regions of weak or impermeable subsur-
gentle slope that prevails all the studied basins. The slope face material, sparse vegetation, and mountainous relief. On
index (SI %) or main channel slope is an indication for the the other hand, the values of stream frequency are low (range
channel slope from which an assessment of the runoff volume between 0.38 km−2 in basin 1 and 0.54 km−2 in basin 7),
can be evaluated. Generally the area under investigation is providing more possibilities for infiltration and recharging
characterized by low to medium relief and low topography, groundwater.
Table 3 Hazard degrees of the effective parameters of the studied basins

Relation with hazard The effective The minimum The value of the morphometric parameters to be assessed for each basin
morphometricparameters and maximum
values of the Hazard degrees of the effective parameters (X)
parameter in all
basins

Xmin Xmax Basin 1 Basin 2 Basin 3 Basin 4 Basin 5 Basin 6 Basin 7 Basin 8

Proportional Area (A) 46.52 432.04 1.53 5.00 1.76 2.11 1.17 1.19 1.00 4.67
Drainage density (D) 0.81 1.10 5.00 3.79 4.39 2.90 1.71 1.00 4.03 4.24
Stream frequency (F) 0.37 0.54 1.14 2.03 1.00 2.02 1.94 3.51 5.00 1.85
Basin shape index (Ish) 0.26 0.97 3.99 2.62 1.45 1.00 1.43 1.47 5.00 1.89
Relief ratio (Rr) 0.00284 0.01038 1.00 1.08 1.24 1.22 2.23 2.39 5.00 1.39
Ruggedness number (Rn) 0.039 0.130 1.00 3.49 2.52 3.01 2.29 2.29 2.94 5.00
Slope index (SIn%) 0.0015 0.0050 1.11 1.24 1.21 2.62 3.11 3.60 5.00 1.00
Drainage Texture ratio (Rt) 0.555 1.32 1.79 4.58 1.34 1.51 1.00 1.63 1.65 5.00
Inverse Weighted mean Rb (WMRb) 3 5.16 1.00 4.50 3.70 2.78 1.30 4.26 5.00 3.54
Length of overland flow (Lo) 0.45 0.58 5.00 3.76 4.40 2.68 1.00 −0.18 4.02 4.24
Sinuosity (Si) 1.08 1.29 2.04 4.32 4.63 4.69 5.00 4.62 1.00 4.97
Summation of hazard degree 24.59 36.41 27.65 26.53 22.17 25.77 39.64 37.79
Classification of the basins (Basin hazard degree) 1.00 5.00 2.00 2.00 1.00 2.00 5.00 5.00
Low hazard High hazard Medium hazard Medium hazard Low hazard Medium hazard High hazard High hazard
Arab J Geosci
Arab J Geosci

Circularity ratio (Rc) and elongation ratio (Re) massive and resistant rocks cause coarse texture. The basin
shape index describes the relation between the area and the
The obtained values of the circularity ratio for all basins are length of the basin. The studied basins attain shape index
less than 0.5. Therefore, the studied basins have an elongated values range between as 0.26 (basin 4) and 0.96 (basin 7).
shape. This shape allows slow disposal of water and results in These values indicate an elongated basin network and in turn
a broad and low-peaked hydrograph. Therefore, the reduction good chance for groundwater recharge.
of runoff velocity can be achieved by providing water harvest-
ing structures, like dams and surface reservoirs. Assessment of flash flood hazard of the studied basins
The elongation ratio values are confirming the values of Rc
where all parameters are more than 0.5, showing elongated The hazard degree for the selected eleven parameters was
basins. Therefore, the studied basins have opportunities for obtained according to Eqs. 1 and 2, and the results are shown
both groundwater recharging through infiltration process and in Table 3. The studied basins have hazard degrees range
occurrence of surface runoff. between 24.59 (basin 1) and 39.64 (basin 7). Accordingly,
these basins were classified into three groups:
Length of overland flow (Lo), Drainage Texture (Rt),
and Basin shape index (Ish) – Basins with high flash flood hazard: include basins nos. 2,
7, and 8
The length of overland flow is the length of water over the – Basins with medium flash flood hazard: include basins
ground before it gets concentrated into definite stream chan- nos. 3, 4, and 6
nels. It ranges in the studied basins between 0.45 (basin 1) and – Basins with high low flood hazard: include basins nos. 1
0.62 (basin 6). These values reflect that basin 1 provides the and 5
fastest surface water concentration while basin 6 has the
slowest. The drainage texture values in the studied basins
are less than 6.4 km−1; therefore, they can be classified as
coarse texture (Smith 1958). This classification pointed out Precipitation data estimated from satellite
that the drainage texture ratio depends upon a number of nat-
ural factors such as climate, rainfall, vegetation, rock and soil The analyses of the monthly global precipitation in the study
type, infiltration capacity, and relief. The soft or weak rocks area over the years 1998–2010 reveal that the rainy season is
unprotected by vegetation produce a fine texture, whereas usually from September to March (Fig. 7c and Table 4A). The

Fig. 7 Different types of precipitation data estimated from satellite, TRMM (tropical rainfall measuring mission)
Table 4 Rainfall data extracted from NASA tropical rainfall measuring mission (TRMM), El Daba’a area

(A) Monthly global precipitation data (mm)

Years Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May Jun. Jul. Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec. Total The average
(mm) Annual (mm)
1998–1999 27 31 5 12 0 0 0 0 0 25 63 28 191 164
1999–2000 32 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 4 18 80 142
2000–2001 28 15 5 4 0 0 0 4 21 25 33 18 153
2001–2002 25 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 18 72 124
2002–2003 62 15 6 5 0 0 0 0 0 12 8 45 153
2003–2004 25 60 42 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 49 193
2004–2005 78 28 5 5 3 0 0 0 0 0 28 30 177
2005–2006 56 25 15 5 0 0 0 0 1 2 18 40 162
2006–2007 35 18 12 5 3 0 0 0 9 15 27 32 156
2007–2008 38 10 7 8 0 0 0 1 0 18 40 70 192
2008–2009 48 7 5 0 0 0 0 2 18 8 30 20 138
2009–2010 50 25 7 5 0 0 0 2 15 20 30 33 187
(B) Data from the visualization and analysis of TRMM_3B43_Acc.
Years Accumulated rainfall (mm) over the study area Total acc. Average acc. rainfall The average
rainfall (mm) (total /5 zones) Annual (mm)
Zone 1 Zone2 Zone 3 Zone 4 Zone 5
1998–2014 1,881.1 2,206.3 2,533.5 2,859.7 3,185.9 12,667 2,533.3 168.9

acc. accumulated, Zones zones which cover the study area (see Fig. 7a)
Arab J Geosci
Arab J Geosci

total annual rainfall during this period ranges from 124 mm annually. The total annual runoff volume (Qv) for an area
(2001–2002) to 193 mm (2003–2004). The average annual BA^ was calculated by using Eq. (7), where it ranges be-
rainfall during the period 1998–2010 is estimated as tween 1.04×106 m3 (basin 5) and 10.68×106 m3 (basin 2).
164 mm. To confirm this average, the visualization and The summation of the annual runoff volume for the eight
analysis of TRMM data during the period 1998–2014 were basins (total area 1,378.1 km2) is 32.32×106 m3. The eval-
achieved (Fig. 7a and Table 4B). The results point out that uation of all these results reflects that the study area has
the study area is covered by different zones of accumulated runoff range between 10 and 15.3 % of its rainfall. Hence,
rainfall with average annual rainfall equal to 168.86 mm. the remaining rainfall is lost by infiltration and evaporation
The lowest value has been used in the subsequent calcula- processes.
tions. On the other hand, the area-averaged time series
(TRMM_3B43) of the accumulated rainfall clarify that the
study area is subjected to single rainfall events (Fig. 7b). Slope, flow accumulation and flow direction
Some of these events provide rainfall amounts to 95, 98,
and 80 mm, such as the cases of years 2000, 2008, and Slope, flow accumulation, and flow direction are important in
2013, respectively. the assessment of the rainwater harvesting because they pro-
vide data about the surface of the study area and the nature of
the stream flow. The majority of the study area has a gentle
Surface runoff estimation slope where its values are less than 5° (10 %; Fig. 9a). On the
other hand, the northern border of the coastal plain and the few
In the present study, the estimation of surface runoff (Q) is parts of the pediment plain have slope values reach to 11°
based on the curve number method by using Eqs. 3, 4, and (20.5 %). This is resulted from the relief difference where
5. The curve number values of the study area have been these parts are occupied by ridges which act locally as small
extracted from curve number map (Fig. 8). This map was watershed.
created using a combination of developed thematic layers; The flow accumulation layer (Fig. 9b) expresses for the
hydrologic soil group, slope, rainfall, evapotranspiration, main stream channels, which of them act as water collectors
and land use (Mahmoud 2014). The obtained curve num- for the surface runoff. Some of these streams are draining to
ber values for the studied basins are 45 and 35. The ma- outside the study area (southward to a lower relief on the
jority of basins nos. 2, 4, 6, 7, and 8 are covered by pixels surface of tableland, and westward to the Fuka basin) where
which have curve number value 45. On the other hand, the the water divide separate between El Daba’a drainage network
basins nos. 1, 3 and 5 have two curve number values, and other networks. The flow direction layer (Fig. 10c) re-
therefore Eq. (6) was used to calculate the weighted mean flects that the surface water runs with the general slope with
curve number for these basins. The obtained value is 40. few exceptions where some local hills on the surface of table-
The results (Table 5) reveal that the studied basins have land and ridges on the piedmont plain are directing the surface
actual runoff (Q) ranges between 16.5 and 25 mm water to the more decline areas.

Fig. 8 Map shows the curve

number values (extracted from
Mahmoud 2014), overlaid by the
studied basins
 Arab J Geosci

runoff (Q) to the total

Percentage of actual
Discussions

Although the study area is falling in the arid zones, it receives

rainfall (P)
amounts of annual rainfall which provide the opportunity for

Q/P(%)

10.06

15.33
10.06

10.06
15.33

15.33

15.33

15.33
surface runoff. The existing landforms units are the tableland,
Evaluation of the outputs

which represent the main watersheds as well as local hills and

ridges. Others act as water collectors, such as the piedmont
annual rainfall×106

plain, the depressions, and the drainage lines. This fact pays
Total volume of

V(m3)=A(m2)

attention to the importance of the local and small catchment

areas, because they receive amounts of rainfall which drain
×P(m)

10.33
15.95

19.69
70.85

25.22

10.66

65.68
and spread in different directions inside the basin. This result

7.63
is also confirmed by the flow direction layer (Fig. 9c). The
geology of the study area shows two specific types of the
Total annual runoff volume

Cubic meter

lithologic covers: the rocky surface which is covering the ta-

(m3)×106

bleland and characterized by a crust layer of dolomitic

for an area BA^ (Qv)

10.86

10.08
1.04

1.17
1.60

1.97
3.87

1.64

limeston, and the alluvial deposits which are mainly sandy

mud (sandy loam) and cover the floor of the basins. The rocky
surface, the crust layer, and the sandy loam deposits, are pro-
Acre-feet

1,296.04

1,599.61
8,807.53

3,138.96

1,327.19

8,175.19

viding a good chance for surface runoff. The two investigated

839.04

949.58

sites Bd^ and Be^ (Fig. 5d, e) are covered by this crust layer
and thin sheet of slightly vegetated sand dunes. The effects of
16.50

25.14
25.14

25.14

25.14

25.14

the last recorded rainfall event (March 2014) was still noted on
16.5

16.5
mm
runoff (Q)

the surface of these sites where runoff caused a partial damage

Actual

for one of the paved roads. The morphometric parameters

0.65

0.65

0.65

0.99
0.99

0.99

0.99

0.99

reveal that the studied basins have opportunities for surface

in

runoff occurrence and also for groundwater recharge through

76.20

76.20

76.20

61.98
61.98

61.98

61.98

61.98

infiltration process. Although the area of study has a gentle

mm
abstraction

slope in the most of its surface, the analyses of the precipita-

For basins 1, 3, and 5, the weighted mean curve number of the two values (35 and 45) is used
Initial

tion data confirm that some events have a sudden increasing in

2.44
2.44

2.44

2.44

2.44
(Ia)

in

the amount of rainfall (Fig. 7). These have to be considered in

flood scenarios, particularly for the catchment area in which
310.39
310.39

310.39

310.39

310.39
Results for estimation of surface runoff by using curve number method

mm

381

381

381

the nuclear power plant is planned. Three of the studied basins

retention (S)
maximum

are showing high hazard degrees (basins 2, 7, and 8) and have

Potential
Outputs

12.22
12.22

12.22

12.22

12.22

therefore to be protected in order to avoid any flash flood. In

15

15

15
in

this regard, the values of the actual runoff (runoff depth) and
the total runoff volume of the studied basins can provide a
6.46
6.46
6.46
6.46
6.46
6.46
6.46

6.46
Inch
(in)
Average annual of

significant contribution in the evaluation of the potentialities

total rainfall (P)

of rainwater harvesting and the hazard of flash floods. The

Millimeter

studied basins of El Daba’a area have an average annual run-

off volume of 32 million m3. Hence, management of rainwater
(mm)

164
164
164
164
164
164
164

164

harvesting and protections of any flash flood can be consid-

ered an important requirement. The runoff ranges between 10
number

and 15.3 % of the average rainfall amount. This value is com-

Curve

(CN)

45
40
45
40
45
40
45

45

parable with the results of runoff estimation in the El Omayed

area, located 50 km to the East of El Daba’a, where percentage
106,758
24,032

29,661
37,998
15,558
16,066

98,963
11,495

of runoff is 17 % (SUMAMAD 2011). Many activities of

Acres
Basin area (A)

rainwater harvesting were monitored in the study area

(Fig. 10), where most of them have been established by the
432.04
120.04
153.78

400.49

area’s residents. These activities include cisterns which have a

97.25

62.96
65.02
46.52
km2

storage capacity ranging from 100 to 500 m3 (Roman cisterns)

and providing water for drinking purpose (Fig. 10, a, b, c).
Table 5

Basin 1

Basin 3
Basin 4
Basin 5
Basin 6
Basin 7
Basin 8
Basin2
Inputs

Larger surface reservoirs are not common due to high coasts

Basin

for its construction and maintenance; some reservoirs were

Arab J Geosci

Fig. 9 a Slope layer, b flow

accumulation layer, c flow
directions layer overlay contour
map of the study area
 Arab J Geosci

Fig. 10 Field photos of some monitored activities for rainwater harvesting in the study area

recorded with storage capacity reach to 1,000 m3 (Fig. 10, d, e, to this location (Fig. 11). The drainage networks of basins nos.
f). They were drilled in soft rocks of oolitic limestone (in 2 and 4 are flowing from the tableland, in case of intensive
piedmont plain) and in chalky limestone (in the tableland). flood; these streams can carry rocks and cause several risks. It
Dams were also established on the local scale to harvest sur- can be concluded that basin 2, which has a total annual vol-
face water for agriculture purpose (Figs. 10, g, h, i). ume of surface runoff of 10 million m3 and classified in the
With regard to the location of the planned nuclear power high hazard group, should be managed carefully to avoid its
plant (NPP), the three basins (2, 3, and 4) are draining directly threat to the location of NPP.

Fig. 11 Map shows basins

draining to the location of the
proposed nuclear plant
Table 6 Geographical coordinates of the proposed sites for rainwater harvesting and protection of flash floods hazard

R.S. Basin 1 Basin 2 Basin 3 Basin 4 Basin 5 Basin 6 Basin 7 Basin 8

Arab J Geosci

Long. (E) Lat. (N) Long. (E) Lat. (N) Long. (E) Lat. (N) Long. (E) Lat. (N) Long. (E) Lat. (N) Long. (E) Lat. (N) Long. (E) Lat. (N) Long. (E) Lat. (N)

Surface 28°38′22″ 30°56′11″ 28°25′15″ 30°52′30″ 28°25′56″ 30°57′28″ 28°25′22″ 31°1′11″ 28°20′22″ 30°58′47″ 28°17′0″ 31°2′40″ 28°15′19″ 31°2′29″ 28°14′36″ 30°57′20″
reservoir 28°40′19″ 30°57′9″ 28°27′26″ 30°55′13″ 28°27′27″ 30°57′54″ 28°23′47″ 30°59′41″ 28°20′58″ 30°59′57″ 28°17′39″ 31°2′3″ 28°14′32″ 31°2′5″ 28°8′34″ 30°56′28″
28°38′34″ 30°57′36″ 28°29′25″ 30°54′19″ 28°28′59″ 30°58′46″ 28°22′37″ 30°58′29″ 28°21′44″ 31°0′39″ 28°17′37″ 31°0′38″ 28°13′44″ 31°2′15″ 28°5′48″ 30°56′51″
28°40′18″ 30°57′56″ 28°30′26″ 30°54′10″ 28°27′53″ 30°59′46″ 28°22′13″ 30°57′8″ 28°19′28″ 31°0′11″ 28°17′46″ 31°0′10″ 28°14′37″ 31°3′6″ 28°5′0″ 30°57′29″
28°39′58″ 30°58′47″ 28°32′58″ 30°54′4″ 28°29′27″ 30°59′40″ 28°21′3″ 30°56′6″ 28°20′26″ 31°1′29″ 28°17′56″ 30°59′7″ 28°13′34″ 31°3′13″ 28°7′25″ 30°58′11″
28°39′6″ 30°59′31″ 28°35′4″ 30°52′46″ 28°30′19″ 31°0′13″ 28°16′46″ 30°55′26″ 28°21′3″ 31°2′25″ 28°17′47″ 30°58′10″ 28°12′36″ 1°3′42″ 28°8′58″ 30°59′7″
28°35′36″ 30°59′11″ 28°31′12″ 30°55′28″ 28°30′25″ 31°1′15″ 28°19′27″ 31°2′47″ 28°10′3″ 30°58′44″
28°32′49″ 30°56′30″ 28°30′31″ 31°2′9″ 28°19′49″ 31°3′34″ 28°10′58″ 30°59′12″
28°33′33″ 30°58′1″ 28°11′16″ 31°0′5″
28°33′58″ 31°0′19″ 28°11′28″ 31°1′34″
28°32′27″ 30°58′16″ 28°11′16″ 31°3′24″
28°35′6″ 30°54′21″
Cistern 28°40′2″ 30°59′26″ 28°34′31″ 31°1′30″ 28°28′41″ 30°57′14″ 28°21′19″ 30°58′58″ 28°21′2″ 30°59′21″ 28°18′7″ 30°57′52″ 28°15′33″ 31°1′33″ 28°11′1″ 31°4′20″
28°37′49″ 30°59′10″ 28°33′45″ 31°1′35″ 28°30′34″ 30°58′46″ 28°21′49″ 30°59′48″ 28°18′56″ 31°0′26″ 28°18′34″ 30°58′52″ 28°16′2″ 31°1′57″ 28°11′49″ 31°3′35″
28°36′45″ 30°58′38″ 28°32′47″ 31°1′40″ 28°30′46″ 30°59′50″ 28°23′35″ 0°58′16″ 28°22′26″ 31°1′25″ 28°18′24″ 31°0′17″ 28°15′50″ 31°2′32″ 28°10′24″ 31°3′45″
28°34′24″ 30°58′31″ 28°31′24″ 31°2′3″ 28°25′21″ 30°58′51″ 28°24′51″ 30°59′6″ 28°22′8″ 31°2′8″ 28°18′30″ 31°0′51″ 28°15′35″ 31°2′54″ 28°9′55″ 31°3′7″
28°36′8″ 30°59′43″ 28°31′5″ 31°0′38″ 28°26′46″ 31°0′28″ 28°22′43″ 31°2′47″ 28°18′49″ 31°2′30″ 28°18′35″ 31°1′39″ 28°16′38″ 31°3′26″ 28°10′11″ 31°2′25″
28°34′35″ 31°0′5″ 28°31′42″ 31°0′12″ 28°26′12″ 31°0′55″ 28°22′43″ 31°4′3″ 28°21′23″ 31°2′51″ 28°18′32″ 31°2′56″ 28°16′20″ 31°3′51″ 28°11′58″ 31°1′52″
28°33′12″ 31°0′28″ 28°29′39″ 31°0′43″ 28°23′58″ 31°4′29″ 28°22′0″ 31°3′43″ 28°18′32″ 31°3′28″ 28°15′41″ 31°3′54″ 28°13′6″ 31°0′57″
28°33′18″ 30°59′33″ 28°28′16″ 31°1′37″ 28°24′35″ 31°4′35″ 28°21′23″ 31°3′42″ 28°18′1″ 31°3′52″ 28°15′2″ 31°3′50″ 28°12′27″ 31°0′6″
28°34′35″ 30°56′38″ 28°30′54″ 31°2′27″ 28°25′45″ 31°4′52″ 28°20′49″ 31°3′32″ 28°17′36″ 31°3′57″ 28°14′22″ 31°3′40″ 28°12′55″ 30°57′44″
28°30′48″ 30°56′35″ 28°31′23″ 31°2′20″ 28°24′58″ 31°4′45″ 28°17′12″ 31°3′36″ 28°13′5″ 31°4′1″ 28°9′32″ 31°1′22″
28°36′40″ 30°55′59″ 28°16′55″ 31°3′9″ 28°12′12″ 31°3′13″ 28°7′46″ 31°0′42″
28°29′41″ 30°56′37″ 28°16′45″ 31°1′48″ 28°12′7″ 31°2′22″ 28°6′24″ 31°0′12″
28°16′20″ 31°1′39″ 28°12′51″ 31°2′14″ 28°5′32″ 30°59′46″
28°15′10″ 30°59′54″ 28°13′50″ 31°1′17″
28°15′0″ 30°59′16″
R.S. Basin 2 Basin 3 Basin 4 Basin 7 Basin 8
Long. (E) Lat. (N) Long. (E) Lat. (N) Long. (E) Lat. (N) Long. (E) Lat. (N) Long. (E) Lat. (N)
Alternative 28°37′30″ 30°53′13″ 28°27′52″ 30°58′32″ 28°18′48″ 30°55′42″ 28°13′31″ 31°2′47″ 28°14′2″ 30°53′51″
earth dyke 28°33′56″ 30°53′23″ 28°22′1″ 30°58′3″ 28°14′45″ 31°3′1″ 28°11′11″ 30°53′52″
28°29′55″ 30°54′4″ 28°7′43″ 30°53′4″
28°28′44″ 30°54′25″ 28°7′4″ 30°50′44″
28°26′38″ 30°55′43″ 28°2′52″ 30°50′43″
28°24′42″ 30°52′34″ 28°8′20″ 30°54′48″
28°33′1″ 30°51′3″ 28°6′24″ 30°54′27″
 Arab J Geosci

30°54′46″
30°54′14″

30°56′34″

30°58′40″
30°57′11″
30°58′2″
30°57′3″
Long. (E) Lat. (N) Long. (E) Lat. (N)
Recommendations

31°0′2″

31°2′3″
From the aforementioned results and discussion, multi struc-

28°11′43″
tures for the protection and development of surface water
28°4′57″
28°2′22″
28°12′1″
28°6′31″
28°6′20″

28°7′57″
Basin 8

28°5′2″

28°6′3″
should be established. With the study at hand, an attempt is
made to define a decision based on a scientific approach for
identifying the most appropriate sites for rainwater harvesting.
The following recommendations have to be taken under con-
sideration for harvesting and managing of the surface water as
well as to avoid any future risk of flash floods (Table 6 and
Basin 7

Fig. 12):

a. Concert dams in the stairs form should be established with

Long. (E) Lat. (N)

elevation 1 m crossing the main channel of basins 2, 8,

and 4. These dams can reduce the amount of lost water
which runs to the Mediterranean Sea and protect the
Basin 6

downstream portions from any flash floods. Basins 2

and 8 are classified in the high hazard group, whereas
basin 4 has a direct effect on the proposed location of
Long. (E) Lat. (N)

the nuclear power plant. The elevation one meter is sug-

gested because the terraces which were noted in these
basins have elevation between 50 and 2.5 m (see the ter-
Basin 5

races photo in Fig. 4). The stairs form is assigned because

it works to reduce the speed, save soils, store water and in
the same time permit the surface runoff to reach to the
31°0′27″
Long. (E) Lat. (N)

downstream portions with low speed. The dams also can

be opened from the center to give the chance to fill the
following reservoirs.
28°22′57″
Basin 4

b. Alternative earth dikes should be established along the

drainage lines in the upstream portions of basins. These
dykes will serve dispersing the main stream and hence
Long. (E) Lat. (N)

mitigating any flood flash as the case of basins 2 and 8.

R.S. Recommended structures (see Fig. 12), Dam (S.F.) Dam in the stairs form

On the other hand, these dikes can work to enhance the

soil potentialities, therefore they are recommended for
basins 3, 4, and 7.
Basin 3

c. Surface water reservoirs can be established in the recom-

mended sites (Fig. 12) to store large amount of surface
30°56′25″

water (from 2,000 to 5,000 m3). Many of the chosen sites

Long. (E) Lat. (N)

31°0′7″

(Fig. 12, S1 to S2) are checked and investigated in the

field where they received water from all directions and
28°33′32″

represent low-land areas. Therefore they can collect huge

28°32′8″
Basin 2

amounts of water. Some considerations were taken into

account in the determination of the reservoir proposed
sites such as: the number of residence who can benefit
Long. (E) Lat. (N)

from this water and the suitability of the area for agricul-
tural activities. Also, small concert dams with arc shape
should be established facing the flow direction to redirect
Basin 1

the surface water to the reservoir. These reservoirs have to

Table 6 (continued)

be subjected to annual cleansing to dispose of any

backfill.
Dam (S.F.)

d. Cisterns with storage capacity ranges between 100

and 300 m3 are recommended in the coastal plain
R.S.

along the foot slope of the ridges and also in the

Arab J Geosci

Fig. 12 Recommendations map of the proposed sites for rainwater panchromatic band, the image subjected to radiometric enhancement
harvesting and protection of flash floods. The sites illustrated on landsat (histogram equalization). S1 to S8: Field photos for some of the
8 (LC8), bands 4, 5, 3 in red, green, blue, with high-resolution checked sites

relatively high areas in the piedmont plain. These to employ the integration between the geoinformatics and
cisterns can provide amounts of water for drinking field data to assess the potential of rainwater harvesting in
purposes. remote and data scarce areas. Also, the present study pays
attention to the probability of flash flood and its hazard
which can abort any development bases. This approach
can be applied in any arid area which has the same condi-
Conclusions tions where no measurements for surface runoff and rain-
fall. It was shown clearly in this study that the remote
Not only in semi-arid regions but also in arid regions, sensing and GIS can provide the appropriate platform for
rainwater harvesting could be an efficient approach in or- convergence of different data obtained from multidisci-
der to harness the excess runoff, and hence can be used plinary researches as well as field investigations. Many
during deficit times. Rainwater harvesting is applicable to arid regions have not sufficient historical records or de-
minimize water loss and to augment water supplies in wa- tailed runoff information needed for assess the rainwater
tershed systems. El Daba’a area has been chosen because harvesting. In these cases, this study can provide a better
it already has a lack of water for agriculture and drinking solution through the building of the data layers from DEM
purposes. Many communities depend mainly on the rain- analyses, landsat images, and GPS records. The present
water for all life uses. In addition, El Daba’a area is of study also provides that flood hazard evaluation is impor-
special interest because of the planned nuclear power plant tant for the catchment managements especially for the sus-
there to generate the electricity. In this regard, efforts were tainable development of the water resources. In the case of
made to shed light on the location of the power plant in lack measured data and due to that the flood assessment is
terms of flooding risks. An important base for any rainwa- dependent on the physiographic features of basins; there-
ter harvesting and flash flood study is a sound knowledge fore, the flash flood hazard classification can be carried
of the geological and geomorphological conditions. It can out on the base of the effective morphometric parameters
be concluded that the current study represents an approach of the basins.
 Arab J Geosci

Acknowledgments The authors are greatly thankful to the STDF (The Hammad FA (1972) The geology of soils and water resources in the area
Science and Technology Development Fund, Ministry for Scientific Re- between Ras El Hekma and Ras El Rum (Western Mediterranean
search, Cairo, Egypt) for funding the scientific project entitled BAn inte- Littoral Zone, Egypt). Ph.D., Fac. Sci., Cairo Univ., Egypt
grated approach for water resources development in El Daba’a area, Horton RE (1932) Drainage basin characteristics. Trans Am Geophys
ID.6124^ under the short-term fellowship program. This funding enables Union 13:350–361
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