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Water use at Luxor, Egypt: consumption analysis and future demand forecasting

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Abstract

Water resources in Egypt are becoming scarce and the demand for clean drinking water supply is one of the most important priorities of the Egyptian government in recent years. Analyzing water use and future demand forecasting is a primitive clue for water demand management. Water in Luxor is used for agricultural, residential, institutional, commercial, and touristic purposes. The results of water use analysis indicated that for the time period from 1983 to 2012, agriculture is the highest consumer of water which reached about 94.76–97.38 % followed by residential water consumption (1.90–3.05 %), institutional water consumption (0.71–1.75 %), and touristic water consumption (0.02–0.43 %), respectively. The future demand forecasting results revealed that the present situation may continue to rise in the next 50 years which will increase the water demand with a water deficit ranging between 15 and 114 MCM/year. To fill the gap between the present water consumption and future residential, institutional, commercial, and touristic water demand, additional municipal facilities, and improvement and management of water supply/demand are needed. To cope with the predicted future water demand, it is recommended to improve the on-farm irrigation, reduce the demand for irrigation water, rationalize the irrigation water use, and enhance the integrated role of water users in integrated water resources management.

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Acknowledgments

This project was supported financially by the Science and Technology Development Fund (STDF), Egypt, Grant No 1886 US-Egypt Program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Sohag University, Sohag, Egypt

    Ayman A. Ahmed

  2. Land, Air and Water Resources Department, University of California, Davis, USA

    Graham E. Fogg

  3. Soil and Water Science Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt

    Mohsen A. Gameh

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  1. Ayman A. Ahmed
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Correspondence to Ayman A. Ahmed.

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Ahmed, A.A., Fogg, G.E. & Gameh, M.A. Water use at Luxor, Egypt: consumption analysis and future demand forecasting. Environ Earth Sci 72, 1041–1053 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-013-3021-8

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