Abstract

Evaluation of water resources in El_Minya governorate _Egypt for drinking and irrigation purposes

Author(s): A.E.Farag, M.D.Ahmed, Magdy Hosny El-Sayed

The present work aims to evaluate the water resources chemicaly in El-Minya governorate for drinking. The hydrochemical characteristics, as well as evaluation of surface and groundwater also for irrigation. The study includes chemical analysis of 25 surface water samples (River Nile and, Ibrahimiya and Bahr Yousof canals and moheet drain) and 208 groundwater samples (148 samples tapping the Plio-Pleistocene aquifer and 60 samples tapping the Eocene aquifer) during Jun and September, 2005. Most of the groundwater samples of the Plio-Pleistocene and Eocene aquifers lie in the fresh zone, while the brackish water is less pronounced. There is a general direction of increasing water salinity from the River Nile to the Plateau along the study area. The higher values of water salinity is strictly confined to southwest of Samalut locality due to over-pumping activity. This reflects the impact of land reclamation projects on the groundwater figure 1.