Abstract
Flash flood hazard assessments, mitigation measures, and water harvesting efforts in desert environments are often challenged by data scarcity on the basin scale. The present study, using the Wadi Atfeh catchment as a test site, integrates remote sensing datasets with field and geoelectrical measurements to assess flash flood hazards, suggest mitigation measures, and to examine the recharge to the alluvium aquifer. The estimated peak discharge of the 13 March 2020 flood event was 97 m3/h, which exceeded the capacity of the culverts beneath the Eastern Military Highway (64 m3/h), and a new dam was suggested, where 75% of the catchment could be controlled. The monitoring of water infiltration into the alluvium aquifer using time-lapse electrical resistivity measurements along a fixed profile showed a limited connection between the wetted surficial sediments and the water table. Throughflow is probably the main source of recharge to the aquifer rather than vertical infiltration at the basin outlet. The findings suggest further measures to avoid the negative impacts of flash floods at the Wadi Atfeh catchment and similar basins in the Eastern Desert of Egypt. Furthermore, future hydrological studies in desert environments should take into consideration the major role of the throughflow in alluvium aquifer recharge.
Highlights
Flash flooding of the dryland wadi systems has become one of the most common phenomena that afflicts neighborhood activities and the surrounding environments [1,2,3]
The absence of accurate measurements for rainfall and runoff parameters in most, if not all, dryland catchments in the Eastern Desert of Egypt can be one of the main reasons that flash floods destruct the road networks in their pathways
Examples of these destructive flash flood events throughout the Eastern Desert of Egypt are summarized in Table 1, which include the September–November 1994 event in the Sohag and Qena basins, the March–May 2014 event in the Sohag and Komombo basins, the 15 May 2014 event in the Al-Saf basin and the April 2018 event in the Fifth Settlement, “New Cairo” [4,11]
Summary
Flash flooding of the dryland wadi systems has become one of the most common phenomena that afflicts neighborhood activities and the surrounding environments [1,2,3]. Time-lapse ERI utilizes the natural electrical contrasts of water to monitor longer-term groundwater–saltwater interactions [39] In this manuscript, using the Wadi Atfeh catchment in the Eastern Desert of Egypt as a test site, multi-temporal datasets of remote sensing, a time-lapse 2D-ERI survey at the downstream site, and DEM analyses have been integrated to assess the interaction of flash floods, land use planning, and recharging of the alluvium aquifer, which are very critical to urban, industrial, and agricultural development plans in the Eastern Desert of Egypt and similar arid regions worldwide. In order to achieve this goal, the following objectives have been conducted: (1) estimating the flash flood parameters and mapping the vulnerability of rural areas and infrastructures to these hydrological hazards; (2) estimating the infiltration rate of surface runoff into the wadi alluvium by repeating the 2D-ERI measurements at the same downstream site of the Wadi Atfeh catchment over a three-month duration (the field measurements took place shortly after the flash flood event of 13 March 2020, and continued until 11 June 2020); (3) detecting the temporal response of the alluvial aquifer to the flash floods; and (4) assessing the relationship between flash flooding replenishment and regional groundwater dynamics in arid environments
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
