ABSTRACT
Egypt is an arid country with limited water resources. There were
also some problems regarding energy resources during last years. In
Egypt, both water and energy are tightly connected to food production, as
agricultural depends totally on irrigation, and the Egyptian irrigation
system imposes lifting water from watercourses to the surrounding fields.
With the rapid population growth in Egypt, there is a necessity to
produce more food, and this requires optimizing the use of limited water
and energy resources. Irrigation Improvement Projects (IIPs) were among
the solutions to improve water and energy use and increase water
productivity. The projects should improve water productivity by
improving water use efficiency and crops yield. Another important
objective for IIPs was to decrease the irrigation cost through the optimal
use of the energy. After the actual implementation, the evaluation of IIPs
referred to difficulties in the achievement of some objectives, while other
objectives were achieved successfully. The current study presented the
current situation of water, energy, and food in traditional situation in
Egypt and the expected impact from IIPs on these elements, and then it
investigated the actual impact of IIPs after the implementation. An
improved canal in the Middle Delta (Al-Atf canal) was selected for such
investigation. The measurements were conducted in the first reach of the
canal. Measurements on the canal did not refer to real change in water
use efficiency, mainly due to the unsuitable operation of the irrigation
system and the lack of coordination between farmers. Regarding the
energy, the single-point lifting and the dependence on the electric power
had a significant impact on reducing the irrigation cost. The study
discussed the reason for low water use efficiency, and it suggested
Egypt. J. of Appl. Sci., 35 (11) 2020 140-155
developing an operation model that calculates actual water requirements
based on remote sensing information to propose the optimal operation
scenario for the improved Mesqas. Such model could improve water
management, which should have positive impact on water use efficiency,
and in consequence on irrigation cost.