SGER: Investigating Environmental Impacts and Climate Change of Creating a Lake in the Hyperarid Sahara Desert

University Of South Florida, Tampa FL

Investigators

Abstract

0606618 Said The Qattara Depression, the second lowest point in Africa, is in the western desert of Egypt. A proposal has been made to flood the depression with water diverted from the Mediterranean Sea to generate hydro-electric power. Several similar projects have been considered elsewhere in the arid Middle East. Engineering studies for the Egyptian project thus far have focused on its feasibility for power generation but have not considered potential the ecological, micro-meteorological, and hydrologic, and other environmental impacts that could result from flooding an area as large as 18,000 km2. This project represents a holistic approach to evaluating the feasibility and desirability of a large project with potentially large economic, social and environmental impacts. It will consider potential climatic changes that a large lake could induce and will be the first step to estimate the threshold at which extreme arid conditions can be shifted to semi-arid or locally moderate conditions by the introduction of a large lake. Specifically, it is hypothesized that the presence of a large body of water will induce summer rain storms as a result of evaporation from the lake, suitable patterns of prevailing winds, and low pressure cells in the region. Potential impacts of the large saline lake on ground-water resources in the Qattara Depression also will be examined. The multi-disciplinary team of investigators, including a water resources engineer, hydrogeologist, meteorologist, and hydro-ecologist, will visit the site and collaborate with representatives from the Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation and the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Authority. The team will engage in a dialogue with Egyptian counterparts regarding future collaboration on a comprehensive study of the benefits and hazards entailed of forming a saltwater lake in the depression, and in so doing the project will promote cooperation between U.S. and Egyptian scientists and engineers. This award is funded jointly by the Environmental Engineering Program and the Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE).