Extraction of groundwater for agriculture has resulted in the loss of springs across arid regions of the globe. The history and fate are recorded of the artesian springs of Egypt’s Western Desert, from ancient times to the present, spanning the rise and fall of the great civilisations from the Pharoanic dynasties to Persian, Greek and Roman conquests. The study area includes oases Kharga, Dakhla, Bahriya, Farafra and Siwa, and several outer and small oases around Siwa and the edge of the Qattara Depression. The region is hyper-arid, receiving 10 mm or less average annual precipitation and evaporation rates are in the vicinity of 3,000 mm/a. Groundwater in the oases is largely derived from bores discharging from the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer. Based on an extensive survey, conducted for the first time, attention is drawn to the rapid demise of springs as a result of modern irrigation schemes which continue to deplete groundwater supplies.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	Egypt. groundwater development. arid regions. history of hydrogeology. oasis
Research Division:	History, Heritage and Archaeology
Research Group:	Archaeology
Research Field:	Archaeology not elsewhere classified
Objective Division:	Expanding Knowledge
Objective Group:	Expanding knowledge
Objective Field:	Expanding knowledge in history, heritage and archaeology
UTAS Author:	Powell, O (Mr Owen Powell)
ID Code:	118664
Year Published:	2016
Web of Science® Times Cited:	27
Deposited By:	School of Humanities
Deposited On:	2017-07-17
Last Modified:	2017-10-17
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