WATDEV PhD students Samar Gomaa (Egypt) and Mulugeta Melese (Ethiopia) recently had their work plan approved by Wageningen University (Netherlands). They are making good progress with applying the SWAT-MODFLOW model to the WATDEV Ethiopian and Egyptian study sites, laying the groundwork for the subsequent application of the project’s modelling toolbox in the same areas.
SWAT-MODFLOW is well adapted to the Koga watershed study area in Ethiopia. The model domain designed by Mulugeta includes both the irrigation area, to simulate the impact of Best-Management Practices on crop production and water use; and the upstream watershed draining into the Koga reservoir, to assess available water resources for irrigation and the potential impacts of climate change. Water balance in the region adjacent to the irrigation area is also simulated, to assess the potential to use groundwater to complement the reservoir water source. Finally, the model also simulates soil erosion, sediment inflow to the Koga reservoir, and water quality, which are all processes that can affect water supplies. Mulugeta is at the moment calibrating the model using measured streamflow data, to ensure the correct simulation of water resources.
The El-Sharkia study area in Egypt, close to the SEKEM farm, is more complex to simulate with SWAT-MODFLOW due to the artificial canals that ensure irrigation, and the dependence on water from the Nile river.
Nevertheless, Samar has managed to design the model to include the main irrigation canals and dependent areas. This will allow her to assess not only the local impact of Best Management Practices on crop production and water use but also the consequences for water demand and availability in the entire system. The Egypt model also simulates groundwater in detail, accounting for this additional source of irrigation water. At the moment, Samar is busy adapting the MODFLOW component of the integrated model to ensure that the aquifer underlying the study area is correctly simulated.
Progress is also being made in the Sudanese and Kenyan study areas. For the Gezira study area in Sudan, WATDEV PhD student Mohammed Barsi is busy with designing his work plan, including his model application scheme. In particular, he will tackle the challenge of simulating water flow in the canal between the dam and the Gezira irrigation scheme within the SWAT-MODFLOW modelling framework using a specific hydraulic model.
For the Tana watershed study area in Kenya, the modelling tasks have been taken over by Hellen Sang from Egerton University (Kenya). Hellen visited Wageningen University for two weeks in November 2024 and used her time to work on compiling and processing geographical and numerical data for model application together with João Nunes from ISRIC (Netherlands), and with the help of other PhD students from Wageningen. Hellen plans to apply the WATDEV modelling toolbox to the entire Tana watershed, to assess both the availability of water resources for the Tana and Bura irrigation schemes and the potential impacts of upstream water management by hydroelectric dams and water abstraction for other irrigation areas. She will return to the Netherlands in early 2025 to complete the model application.
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