Geoenvironmental assessment of the mut wastewater ponds in the Dakhla Oasis, Egypt

Abstract

Disposal and accumulation of agricultural and sanitary wastewater in poorly engineered ponds in the Mut region, Dakhla Oasis of Egypt is a concern due to their poor water quality; significant expansion over a large spatial area, and their consequential impact on the environment. GIS and remote sensing were useful tools for determining spatiotemporal and the impact of wastewater ponds and land use/cover. The objective of this study is to map wastewater ponds and land use/cover changes over the period of 1984 to 2019. For this purpose, multi-temporal Landsat chronological images were used to assess the spatiotemporal activities. The findings indicated that the total area of wastewater bodies were about 1.79 km2 in 1984, 3.92 km2 in 2000, and 7.91 km2 in 2019. This progressive spatial growth is a response to irresponsible usage of groundwater. Several environmental impacts were noticed, including depletion of the groundwater table, and soil salinization is one aspect of land degradation process. Finally, this study proposes implementation of a strict groundwater resource conservation act, preventing uncontrolled irrigation flooding and suggesting suitable low water consumption agricultural crops.