Assessment of recent rehabilitation projects’ impact on water quality improvement in Lake Burullus, Egypt
Lake Burullus, the second largest coastal lake and wetland in Egypt, is suffering environmentally and economically under the tremendous pressure of rapid urbanization and increase of agriculture, aquaculture and industrial activities for more than 4 decades. This caused significant reduction of the...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2022-01-01
|
| Series: | Ain Shams Engineering Journal |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2090447921002288 |
| _version_ | 1818972251997863936 |
|---|---|
| author | Ahmed Hany Fatma Akl Mona Hagras Ahmed Balah |
| author_facet | Ahmed Hany Fatma Akl Mona Hagras Ahmed Balah |
| author_sort | Ahmed Hany |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Lake Burullus, the second largest coastal lake and wetland in Egypt, is suffering environmentally and economically under the tremendous pressure of rapid urbanization and increase of agriculture, aquaculture and industrial activities for more than 4 decades. This caused significant reduction of the lake’s area and sever degradation of its ecological system, including the decrease in fishing yield, which consequently led to serious socio-economic challenges for the local fisheries communities as well as affecting the national fish production of Egypt. Recently, the Egyptian Government has made great efforts for the rehabilitation and restoration of the northern lakes and wetlands in attempt to improve their environmental conditions and restore their economic value. Among these efforts is Burullus Lake Rehabilitation Project, which has started in 2018 covering the inlet and the eastern part of the lake and aims to improve the water quality and fish production in the lake mainly by enhancing water exchange between the lake and the sea through dredging and side protection works. The current study provides an update of the water quality conditions over Burullus lake by carrying out a wide water sampling program that covers the entire perimeter of the lake with an emphasis on the most problematic areas. The main water quality parameters were measured and analyzed spatially in order to provide a quantitative assessment of the efficiency of the implemented rehabilitation and restoration works and provide recommendation for further improvement works. The results show that there was a significant improvement of investigated water quality parameters over the lake inlet and the eastern part where the dredging works were carried out while less improvement was found over the western part. This indicates that water exchange with the sea and the circulation pattern in the lake have the most significant influence on the lake’s water quality, which should be considered in future rehabilitation projects. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T15:05:18Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8e531f6c63484492a158ee811339b7e3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2090-4479 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T15:05:18Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ain Shams Engineering Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-8e531f6c63484492a158ee811339b7e32022-12-21T19:36:32ZengElsevierAin Shams Engineering Journal2090-44792022-01-01131101492Assessment of recent rehabilitation projects’ impact on water quality improvement in Lake Burullus, EgyptAhmed Hany0Fatma Akl1Mona Hagras2Ahmed Balah3Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University, Egypt; Corresponding author.Thebes Higher Institute of Engineering, EgyptFaculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University, Egypt; Irrigation & Hydraulics Dept, EgyptFaculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University, Egypt; Irrigation & Hydraulics Dept, EgyptLake Burullus, the second largest coastal lake and wetland in Egypt, is suffering environmentally and economically under the tremendous pressure of rapid urbanization and increase of agriculture, aquaculture and industrial activities for more than 4 decades. This caused significant reduction of the lake’s area and sever degradation of its ecological system, including the decrease in fishing yield, which consequently led to serious socio-economic challenges for the local fisheries communities as well as affecting the national fish production of Egypt. Recently, the Egyptian Government has made great efforts for the rehabilitation and restoration of the northern lakes and wetlands in attempt to improve their environmental conditions and restore their economic value. Among these efforts is Burullus Lake Rehabilitation Project, which has started in 2018 covering the inlet and the eastern part of the lake and aims to improve the water quality and fish production in the lake mainly by enhancing water exchange between the lake and the sea through dredging and side protection works. The current study provides an update of the water quality conditions over Burullus lake by carrying out a wide water sampling program that covers the entire perimeter of the lake with an emphasis on the most problematic areas. The main water quality parameters were measured and analyzed spatially in order to provide a quantitative assessment of the efficiency of the implemented rehabilitation and restoration works and provide recommendation for further improvement works. The results show that there was a significant improvement of investigated water quality parameters over the lake inlet and the eastern part where the dredging works were carried out while less improvement was found over the western part. This indicates that water exchange with the sea and the circulation pattern in the lake have the most significant influence on the lake’s water quality, which should be considered in future rehabilitation projects.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2090447921002288Egyptian coastal lakesLake BurullusWater qualityDredging |
| spellingShingle | Ahmed Hany Fatma Akl Mona Hagras Ahmed Balah Assessment of recent rehabilitation projects’ impact on water quality improvement in Lake Burullus, Egypt Ain Shams Engineering Journal Egyptian coastal lakes Lake Burullus Water quality Dredging |
| title | Assessment of recent rehabilitation projects’ impact on water quality improvement in Lake Burullus, Egypt |
| title_full | Assessment of recent rehabilitation projects’ impact on water quality improvement in Lake Burullus, Egypt |
| title_fullStr | Assessment of recent rehabilitation projects’ impact on water quality improvement in Lake Burullus, Egypt |
| title_full_unstemmed | Assessment of recent rehabilitation projects’ impact on water quality improvement in Lake Burullus, Egypt |
| title_short | Assessment of recent rehabilitation projects’ impact on water quality improvement in Lake Burullus, Egypt |
| title_sort | assessment of recent rehabilitation projects impact on water quality improvement in lake burullus egypt |
| topic | Egyptian coastal lakes Lake Burullus Water quality Dredging |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2090447921002288 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ahmedhany assessmentofrecentrehabilitationprojectsimpactonwaterqualityimprovementinlakeburullusegypt AT fatmaakl assessmentofrecentrehabilitationprojectsimpactonwaterqualityimprovementinlakeburullusegypt AT monahagras assessmentofrecentrehabilitationprojectsimpactonwaterqualityimprovementinlakeburullusegypt AT ahmedbalah assessmentofrecentrehabilitationprojectsimpactonwaterqualityimprovementinlakeburullusegypt |