Development of Nile River islands between Old Aswan Dam and new Esna barrages

Peer review under responsibility of National Water Research Center.

Figures & data

Fig. 1 Nile River in Egypt.

Table 1 The further details regarding island geometry.

No.	Name	Distance D/S of OAD (km)	Length in 1939 (L39) (m)	Width in 1939 (W39) (m)	L39/W39	Length in 1982 (L82) (m)	Width in 1982 (W82) (m)	L82/W82	Area in 1982 (feddan)	Length in 2003 (L03) (m)	Width in 2003 (W03) (m)	L03/W03	Area in 2003 (feddan)	Remarks
1	Aswan	6.1	1350	400	3.38	2525	500	5.05	142.96	1980	440.00	4.50	143.89	These two islands are within the city of Aswan. They are developed for recreational purposes
2	Gaziret El Nabatat	6.6	600	150	4.00	790	170	4.65	14.3	790	170.00	4.65	3.40
3	Bahrif	15.75	3450	675	5.11									Merged in east bank. Maps of 1939 showed presence of earth dam at the north part of the island connecting it to the east bank
4	El kubania 1	21.4	2025	350	5.79	3000	740	4.05	307.48	675.29	244.46	2.76	25.49	Merged in 1982, split in 2003. According to maps of 1982 and 2003, Gaziret Elkubania1 was originally two islands are close to merge together to form one island. The islands has elongated since 1982. A small island (Elkubania2) tends to merge with Elkubania at the upstream end. The two islands are very close to merge with the west bank
5	El kubania 2	21.77	300	70	4.29					3339.92	420.49	7.94	196.13
6	El Tawaysa (El Harbyab)	37.9	2100	475	4.42	3625	825	4.39	462.73	3362.59	803.60	4.18	334.91	These groups of islands tend to merge and they are located near the west bank. Balula1 and Balula2 are newly formed island located between Balula3 and Eltawaysa. The main course of the river shifted from the west to the east of the islands. The islands tend to merge with west bank. Balula 1 and 2 are more recent and submerged during high flow
7	Ballula1	41.3	2400	425	5.65	1350	400	3.38	94.8	1356.78	373.26	3.63	65.06
8	Ballula2	43.17				850	275	3.09	53					Submerged in 2003
9	El arab1 (El Mostagadda)	46.54	1075	253	4.25					1011.92	359.77	2.81	51.12	Merged in east bank in 1982
10	El arab2 (El Mostagadda)	47.25	1875	575	3.26
11	El-mansouria	50.73	5375	1175	4.57	6250	1250	5.00	1189.9	5825	1027.48	5.67	1044.77	The island has the largest area in the first reach. The island is located near the west bank. Since the island is located in the inner curve, the island tends to merge with the west bank
12	I1	51.6	375	75	5.00									Disappeared
13	Muneiha	55.82	2125	750	2.83									Merged in east bank
14	Fareseya (Aqulit)	66.59	1950	425	4.59	3550	550	6.45	421.34	3040.8	538.64	5.65	288.28	Survey of 2003 indicates the tendency to merge of the island with the east bank. The island area has reduced since 1982
15	I2	81.61	1125	350	3.21									Submerged in 1982 and 2003 in west bank
16	I3	82.49	825	150	5.50									Submerged in 1982 and 2003 in west bank
17	Besawi	83.44	2750	575	4.78	2025	710	2.85	208.54	1961.35	507.12	3.87	175.54	The I2, I3 appear during low flow and tend to merge together in 2003 and located near the west bank. A roadway culvert existed in 1939 at the north of the Besaw and did not exist in 2003
18	Gaziret Salwa	88								1390	330.00	4.21	72.80	New Island Gaziret Elkarabla tends to merge with the west bank. Its length has decrease since 1982 from 1505 m to 1390 m in 2003. Gaziret Salwa did not exist before Aswan High Dam in 1939
19	Karabla	90.35	1275	725	1.76	1525	500	3.05	144.2	1420.94	591.86	2.40	126.36
20	Gaziret El Itab	97.86	1750	175	10.00	1550	650	2.38	159.63	2452.21	307.15	7.98	125.49	This island is located near the west bank. The western channel is getting narrower
21	I4	99.5	975	125	7.80									Merged in eletab
22	I5	101	175	50	3.50	600	200	3.00	22.45	473	173.00	2.73	14.34	This island is close to the east bank
23	El malikia (El Radisia)	103.06	3125	875	3.57									Merged in east bank
24	Elhessania	106	750	200	3.75									Merged in Elmalikia
25	Abou Ghallab	107.78				1690	525	3.22	182.46	1283.98	423.54	3.03	78.15	These islands are, Abou Ghallab (km 108), Qandala (km 108.94), sheikh Mahmoud (km 110.25), and Elfuza (km 112.41). Elfuza is close to the east bank and tends to merge with the east bank
26	Qanadla	108.75	2025	125	16.20	1330	150	8.87	35.86	1207.05	131.76	9.16	25.40
27	Shaikh Mahmoud	109.4	2950	675	4.37	2100	500	4.20	183.96	1826.98	501.68	3.64	138.89
28	El Fuza	110.5	2250	375	6.00	3425	525	6.52	288.64	3166.94	464.79	6.81	205.81
29	I7	123.3	2250	375	6.00	1425	350	4.07	89.79	1507.25	223.53	6.74	52.74
30	ElDomareya (Elkalh Sharq)	123.8	3800	1125	3.38									Merged in east bank
31	El subha (El kalh)	127.19	3125	550	5.68	3600	840	4.29	491.1	3234.22	762.08	4.24	377.77	A roadway culvert exists at the west bank of the island. The island tends to merge with the west bank
32	I12	133.24				1370	190	7.21	53.67	1339.99	139.70	9.59	30.06	New Island near the east bank
33	El-Hagz	139.06	7750	1550	5.00									Merged in east bank
34	I14	148.89	875	75	11.67
35	Upstream El Riqiyya	152.79				575	225	2.56	27.8	672.46	249.75	2.69	23.98	The island is very close to the west bank
36	Zarnikh (El-Hela)	159.5	2575	500	5.15	2850	500	5.70	267.35	2684.99	432.42	6.21	200.86	The island length increase from 2775 m in 1934 to 2685 m in 2003. Also, its width increased from 375 m in 1934 to 432 m in 2003
Sum			65,350						4841.96				3801.24

Fig. 2 Flow rate before and after the construction of High Aswan Dam.

Fig. 3 Daily discharge downstream Old Aswan Dam between 1995 and 2008.

Fig. 4 Maximum and minimum discharges and water level downstream Old Aswan Dam.

Fig. 5 Flow frequency analysis.

Fig. 6 Suspended sediment concentration before and after operation of High Aswan Dam NRI (1980).

Fig. 7 Nile River islands between Aswan and new Esna barrages in 2003.

Fig. 8 Water surface profile for maximum and minimum discharges between Old Aswan Dam and new Esna barrages.

Table 2 Geometric characteristics of islands in the first reach between 1939 and 2003.

Year	Length (m)	Aspect ratio (RA) Length/width	Degree of elongation (k)	Area (km^2)	Number of islands
1939	65,350	5.31	N/A	N/A	37
1982	46,005	4.48	5.02	20.34	21
2003	46,003.66	5.01	6.172	16.01	23

Fig. 9 Total waterway width at islands.

Fig. 10 Islands width/total cross section width.

Fig. 11 Islands elongation.

Fig. 12 Thalweg line in 1982 and 2003 in the western channel of El-Mansouria Island.

Fig. 13 Thalweg line in 1982 and 2003 in the eastern channel El-Mansouria Island.

Table 3 Geometrical properties change of El-Mansouria Island.

Year	Length (m)	Width (m)	Length/width	Area (feddan)
1939	5375	1175	4.57	925.65
1982	6250	1250	5	1189.9
2003	5825	1027.48	5.67	1044.77

Fig. 14 Development of El-Mansouria Island.

Fig. 15 Egypt wind speed (m/s).

Table 4 Sand discharges related to different wind speed.

Wind speed (m/s)	Sand discharge (t/m/h)	Wind speed (m/s)	Sand discharge (t/m/h)
4.17	2.407407	6.39	7089.102
4.44	45.65158	6.67	9860.741
4.72	195.8916	6.94	13,274.36
5.00	520	7.22	17,396.82
5.28	1084.849	7.5	22,295
5.56	1957.311	7.78	28,035.78
5.83	3204.259	8.06	34,686.02
6.11	4892.565	8.33	42,312.59