DESCRIPTION OF THE STUDY AREA AND DATA INVENTORY - Integrating GIS, Remote Sensing, and Mathematical Modelling for Surface Water Quality Management - page 91

The Drainage Catchment System
The drainage catchment consists of main drain Edko, which collects drainage water from eight sub-
drainage networks from the southern and eastern sides of the catchment and Barseek drain which
collects drainage water from the western part of the catchment. The area of the whole catchment is
about 2031 km 2 . Average length of catchment is 75 km and average width is 25 km. The soil
properties in the drainage catchment are mainly the same soil type as in all the Nile Delta, heavy thick
clay, with higher proportions of silt near the northern edges. The main drain Edko has a length of 48.8
Km starting from Shubrakeet pumping station (km 48.8) and ending at the mouth of Maadia Bougaz
(Km 0.0) at the inlet to the sea. The designed bed width is about 50.0 m and designed bed level is
about -5.0 m.
Six pumping stations feed the drain along its course with drainage water which then flows by gravity
to Lake Edko. In addition, there is a pumping station that takes water off the drain for irrigation called
Edko irrigation pumping station which is located near the upstream part of Edko drain. On the
southern boundary of Lake Edko, there is Barseek pumping station that discharges its water directly to
the lake from Barseek sub-catchment. If the water level in Edko drain is higher than this permissible
water level the efficiency of the pumping station is greatly reduced to the point of forcing the pumping
station to shut down.
The water quality in the drain is monitored on monthly basis by the Drainage Research Institute (DRI).
Edko watershed is considered a multiple zone watershed, i.e. comprised of sub-watersheds discharging
water into the main drain. In the western delta there are a total number of 35 monitoring locations out
of a total number of 113 monitoring points in the whole Nile delta. These monitoring points are
divided into: pumping stations (22), open drain locations (11), and outfall locations (2). In the selected
study area 13 monitoring locations are present, 12 of which monitor the Edko drain and one station
monitors the Barseek drain. Figure (5-6) shows the layout of the catchment .
Figure (5-6): Layout of the drainage catchment