A comparative technical study for estimating seeped water from irrigation canals in the Middle Egypt (Case study: El-Sont branch canal network)

Abstract

Integrating with the national project of irrigation canal lining in the Egyptian countryside, the present study is introduced. The study presents a technical comparison of differential equations that are usually used for estimating the seeped water from the earthen irrigation canals. The quantities of irrigation water that are lost due to seepage are great enough to decrease the wide gap between the needed and available water quantities that Egypt seriously suffers from. So, the accurate estimation of the seeped water quantities is very important. The study aims to select the suitable seepage equations for the Egyptian soil, climate, and the currently used distributed irrigation system. It is also to assess the understudy network by estimating the lost water quantities due to seepage by using the designed water sections’ dimensions and comparing the results with those obtained using the existing field dimensions. In addition, to determining the agricultural area that can be added to the current served area after preserving such great quantities. From the Assiut countryside, the El-Sont canal and its network were chosen to be a case study. After a careful technical reading of the seepage equations that researchers introduced previously, the closest relationships to the case study were used. Results indicated that using the suggested relationship by Nazir Ahmed and the Indian equation, gave the maximum seepage quantities for the entire El-Sont canal network with about 21.5% of the total canal head discharge. Most of this lost water can be saved due to the implementation of the national project for irrigation canal lining. This large amount of preserved water can be used to irrigate 15% of the currently served area.