A 5,000-year-old river could be resurrected to bring sustainable agriculture to one of the planet's rainiest yet driest deserts: The desert of the Sinai Peninsula. Even though it receives the most rainfall of any part of Egypt, most of it is of no benefit to agriculture, since it flows out into the Mediterranean Sea in flash floods.

Researchers from Egypt's Al-Azhar University, and Boston University and the University of North Carolina in the US propose redirecting rainwater in the Wadi El-Arish valley’s drainage area down the river’s former path, away from the sea, to an area where it can be used for irrigation. The country's government is now reviewing that study.

The team proposes that a two-kilometer-long and six-meter-deep channel should be dug through the uplifted structure, to divert water back along the river’s previous course. They believe this could redirect enough runoff during flash floods to create 1,400 square kilometres of fertile land in the depression west of Gebel Halal, where surface clays, low groundwater salinity and a near-surface aquifer also offer promise for agriculture.

In addition to the potential to support agriculture, redirecting the river flow in this region would help to mitigate the risk of flooding in El-Arish City, the capital of the North Sinai governorate, which lies on the coast at the end of the Wadi El-Arish.

 

(SciDev.Net)