Improving quantitative and qualitative equity of water distribution systems

Abstract

In most of the main canals in Egypt, such as the Mit Yazid canal, the tail end regions have a high dependence on agricultural drainage water. The current study aims to improve the situation in tail regions by mixing the drainage water with the surface water at head reaches while maintaining environmental standards. Simulations and water quality models (HEC-RAS model) were used to validate the proposed solutions. The study investigated two scenarios to lift 10.50 and 12.0 m3/s of drainage water at the head reach. The results showed that it is possible to considerably increase the flow to downstream areas while maintaining water quality standards. The study is important as municipal water and its effluent is increasing while irrigation water is decreasing, and therefore, the dependence of tail end farmers on polluted drainage water will increase. The situation in these regions will be unsustainable unless the burden is distributed between the head and tail regions.