Integrated Management of Flash Flood in Wadi System of Egypt: Disaster Prevention and Water Harvesting

Abstract

In the arid regions, flash floods are among the most devastating hazards in terms of human losses and economical damages. On the other hand, however, flash floodwater can be an important source of water in arid environments. Unfortunately, there is often a lack of data on key hydrological processes in arid areas. This limits the ability to understand the flash flood process and use this knowledge to minimize its threat. Egypt is one of arid countries that faces flash flood in the coastal and Nile wadi systems. Until today, no proper protection from flash floods proposed for all wadis basins in Egypt. This study aims to discuss challenges, impacts, previous studies and current mitigation strategy of flash floods at Egypt. Wadi Abadi in Eastern Desert is selected as a case study for flash flood simulation. Due to the scarcity of observational data, computation are carried out using sophisticated techniques where remote sensing data used with Hydro-BEAM (Hydrological River Basin Environmental Assessment Model) to simulate several flash flood events at wadi Abadi. Further integrated management approach for flash flood at wadi system is proposed.