Groundwater – a limited resource
Barth and Shata (1987: 52ff ) divide the groundwater regimes of Egypt
according to their productivity into the following five main categories.
The huge aquifer of the Nubian System
This has a depth ranging from 100 m to 3,000 m and lies on the Base-
ment, the north-eastern part of which is situated in the area of the Western
Desert and belongs to the great North-East–East African Artesian Basin. It
contains fossil water of the pluvial times of 20,000–40,000 years ago whose
salt content is relatively low (< 500 ppm). After long-term use these resources
will be exhausted, since recharge from the Nile valley or from tropical Africa
is negligible.
Discharge of the Western Desert, whether natural or anthropogenic, takes
place in three main areas:
• in the Qattara Depression, in which more than 3 million m3
/day are dis-
charged; in Siwa Oasis alone, there are more than 200 springs with a total
discharge of 200,000 m3
 daily, the number rising because of new boreholes
being drilled
• in the Farafra-Bahariya Depression in which the discharge is at present
400,000 m3
 daily; according to government plans it will be increased to a
total of 1 million m3
 daily
• in the Kharga-Dakhla Depression with its more than 900 shallow wells and
deep boreholes and a total extraction of 3 million m3
 daily, allowing an
area of 40,000 ha to be irrigated.