Abstract
Egypt's current water security situation is weak, having a deficit of about 30 billion cubic metres of water. Many alternatives have been introduced to face water scarcity. Developing water control structures is an important solution to manage water resources. Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation intended to replace the existing regulators at Dairut city with a new one. A design requirement for the new barrage is that water levels in front of the existing barrages will be approximately 0.60 m higher than the present one. This may cause a rise in groundwater levels, which lead to an increase in the seepage flow from the canals surrounding the new project. The main goal of this study is to assess the surface and groundwater interaction using field measurements and water quality for the area around the project of New Dairut Group Regulators (NDGRs). Furthermore, thirteen piezometers have been installed in the study area to measure groundwater levels and quality. Results showed that a confined aquifer is underlying the study area and there is a hydraulic connection between surface water and groundwater. The results showed that there is a decline in water level at wells W2 and W10 during the winter closure by 2.2 m and 2.0 m respectively when the water level of Ibrahimia canal at the upstream of DGRs decreased by 3.7 m, which indicated that the aquifer was connected hydraulically with canals. Water quality results indicated that about 61.5% of the groundwater samples are slightly saline (TDS > 1000 mg/l), while 38.5% of the samples are freshwater with TDS < 1000 mg/l. The factor analysis produced three factors, which described 93.69% of the total variance. The results show that the concentrations of pH do not donate to all other parameters. This study recommended that a sewerage system is needed to protect groundwater from contamination in the study area.