Technology

Leveled terraces for water harvesting

North-western coastal region of Egypt, with an indication of wadi Kharouba (red rectangle)

North-western coastal region of Egypt, with an indication of the Agarma sub-catchment of Wadi Kharouba

Pictures showing an aerial view of the terraces built in the mainstream of the Agarma-DS, a side view of the terraces and the terraces flooded during a rainfall event. The last picture shows an ultrasonic sensor installed to monitor the discharge at the downstream end of the reclaimed basin

About

The technology to be tested and improved has been set up about five years ago in the Agarma sub-catchment of Wadi Kharouba, whose channel was modified into leveled terraces for cultivation. In its actual configuration, the Agarma consists of two parts: i) the upstream part where the alluvium bed was transformed by building terraces designed by a German project and planted with olive and fig trees (it will be called Agarma-US); ii) the downstream part (the part involved in the SALAM – MED project) where a reclamation project (called MARSADEV, funded by Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs) built 29 terraces, 20 along the main branch and 9 from four lateral branches. This part will be called Agarma-DS). The total area of Agarma-DS is about 6 km2, while the terraced area is about 13,5 ha. It was provided with a complete hydrological monitoring system (meteorological station, discharge measuring systems and sensors for monitoring spatial distribution of soil water content). The Agarma-DS basin may be considered an open hydrological system bounded upstream by the old terraces and flowing downstream directly into the major wadi of the area. The weather station consists of a rain gauge, thermometer and hygrometer, sonic anemometer, and radiation sensors, all supported by a data logger, carrying a GPRS modem for remote connection to the weather station.
Downstream, at the end of the last soil terrace, a weir was built to monitor any run‐off leaving the downstream end of the wadi and not stored in the soil terraces. Based on hydrological calculations, the weir is 10 m wide, 0.40 m high at the weir bottom and 0.90 m at the side walls. It was designed according to a peak discharge of 10 m3 s−1. This monitoring system makes the Agarma-DS a reference investigation site for developing guidelines for designing wadis in arid areas.

Objectives of the project

In view of the importance of infiltration in the wadi terraces and its direct relationship to the possibility of using infiltrated water for crop production, further understanding of the storage and flow characteristics of wadis is needed, both in terms of runoff and unsaturated behavior of the wadi bed. This may provide an important opportunity to develop flood and water resource management methodologies appropriate to the specific hydrological characteristics of drylands and the associated management needs.
Coupled to appropriate hydrological and agro-hydrological modeling, the reclaimed wadi becomes a powerful technology that may shed light on how much water can be stored on average for each rainfall event, how much water is lost on average at the basin outlet during each rainfall event (and thus how many terraces could still be built in the wadi), the periods of plants stress, the measures to adopt to reduce water losses by evaporation, the deep percolation fluxes for groundwater recharge.
This information, along with hydro-pedological information about the porosity, the thickness of the soil profile, suggested which crop types could be more suitable for each terrace (for example, olive trees for lower-thickness terraces,). These unique characteristics of the Agarma-DS open the way to extend the design methodology to larger-scale projects based more on scientific aspects of the wadis.
Summarizing, the combination of the reclaimed wadi, the monitoring system and the modeling tools provide the technology to be tested and improved before its scaling out (extension to other similar basins)

Ecological context

This technology can be applied in arid to hyper-arid environments that could receive a considerable amount of rainfall in rainy seasons and could cause considerable surface runoff. The characteristics of the study area are as follows; The study area is characterized by a temperate Mediterranean climate with an annual average T max and T min of 30 and 90 C, respectively. The recorded maximum relative humidity varies from 73% to 63% (in July and March, respectively). The study area is characterized by a short rainy season (Nov.-Feb.). December is the rainiest month with a monthly average of 32 mm. The soil texture in the Wadi El Raml area is classified as sandy loam. Where mainstream of the wadi is mainly occupied by olive and fig trees, while, the upstream is left for rainfed crops and natural vegetation. Barley is the major winter crop grown in the watershed. It is mainly grown to feed livestock on grain, straw, and stubble. A small area is allocated for wheat production. The crop production in the area is mainly based on rainfall with no supplemental irrigation, no mineral fertilization, and a lack of crop rotation practice. The watershed received a total precipitation of 239 mm during the growing season of 2015/2016 which is more than the recorded average of 140 mm.

Main constraints

The main problems that could face the applications of this technology are the unavailability of the required devices like surface runoff sensors which could need importing from outside the country. The maintenance processes could face some issues since we don’t have the expertise to do the maintenance accurately and fast in case if there is any issue happening to the devices, sometimes the absence of network coverage for remotely connecting the devices to get the reading of the sensors is a main problem. Furthermore, the local people do not understand the importance of the installed devices so they could spoliation the devices.

The technology should be easy to install and maintain, and users should be able to operate it without extensive technical knowledge, and should be user-friendly and easy to operate. Moreover, the technology should be adaptable to wide range of climatic conditions and water quality. Finally, The cost of the technology should be affordable for end-users.

Indexes

Workers needed
Skilled workers are essential

Ease of use
Learning to use the solution requires little time

Adaptability
Quick and easy to be adopted

Effectiveness
The solution address the challenge / problem

Reliability
The innovation is sufficiently stable over time

Cost
The investment needed to implement the innovation

Greenhouse emissions
Impact of on climate change

Water availability
The impact of technology on water availability

Water quality
The impact of technology on water quality

Main business opportunities

Based on the information provided by the modeling and the applied technology the more rainwater will be harvested the more efficient agriculture which means more productive agriculture. Food industrialization for figs and olive oil which means more women empowerment More jobs in marketing for agricultural products and food industry products

Socio-economic context

In view of the importance of infiltration in the wadi terraces and its direct relationship to the possibility of using infiltrated water for crop production. This may provide an important opportunity to develop flood and water resource management methodologies appropriate to the specific hydrological characteristics of drylands and the associated management needs. Food industrialization means more women empowerment and more jobs in marketing for agricultural products and food industry products.

Information to maximize the adoption

To maximize the adoption of runoff water harvesting among end-users and facilitate the creation of commercial technology, several factors should be considered; (1) Technical competencies: The technology should be easy to install and maintain, and users should be able to operate it without extensive technical knowledge; (2) Ease of use: The technology should be user-friendly and easy to operate; (3) Adaptability: The technology should be adaptable to different climatic conditions and water quality; (4) Effectiveness: The technology should be effective in terms of water quality and quantity; (5) Reliability: The technology should be reliable and provide a consistent water supply; (6) Cost: The cost of the technology should be affordable for end-users; (7) Environmental impact: The technology should have a minimal environmental impact; (8) Contraindication: Any contraindication or potential negative impact on human health or the environment should be identified and addressed.

Technology Feedbacks

Andrea Galante

Primo Principio S.c.a.r.l.

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Fracesco Martini

Abinsula S.r.l.

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Indicators

The indicators are key metrics within the SALAM-MED project, allowing an objective assessment of the environmental, economic and social sustainability aspects for each technology in the different Living Labs. This analysis is essential to validate the effectiveness of the solutions developed and will be the starting point for the future use of the results obtained, thus contributing to significant progress in research and innovation for sustainability.

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Technical data sheets and documentation – Leveled terraces for water harvesting

Living Labs for testing and implementing this technology

Living Labs as a crossroads for the development of sustainable and resilient technologies for environmental, economic and social progress.

Egypt

Tunisia

Technology responsabile

Desert Research Center

Tech Responsible contacts

Hussien Mohammed Hussien DRC20006@yahoo.com

Ahmed Mohemed Elshenawy a.elshenawy.drc@outlook.com

References

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