Developing Renewable Ground Water Resources in Arid Lands: a Pilot Case - the Eastern Desert of Egypt

(1)Develop reliable techniques for evaluating the extent of renewable ground water resources in arid lands, with the Eastern Desert of Egypt as a test site. Our preliminary geochemical and isotopic data indicated that flash flood waters stored in shallow aquifers during the past 45 years are the source of the shallow (10?100 m) groundwater in Wadi El Tarfa and surrounding areas in the Eastern Desert (Appendix I). (2)Evaluate the source(s) of the groundwater in the alluvial aquifers of the Eastern Desert, the timing of their recharge cycle, and the extent of the renewable groundwater resources recharged by rainwater precipitating over the Red Sea Hills area in the Eastern Desert. (3)Investigate groundwater flow in the alluvial aquifers flooring one of the main valleys of the Eastern Desert.(4)Produce a replicable model in neighboring Middle Eastern and Saharan countries and thus contribute to the preservation of freshwater ecosystems in the area.