Evaluation of Irrigation Water, Drainage Water, Soil Salinity, and Groundwater for Sustainable Cultivation

Use low-quality water has become part of Egypt water strategies to meet its demands especially in the agricultural sector. This study investigates the irrigation water (mixed freshwater with agricultural drainage water), drainage water, soil drainage, salinity and groundwater for Gelbana region (2500 hectare new reclaimed area since 2000) at the East South El-Qantara, North Sinai, Egypt. The findings indicated that irrigation water quality was slightly saline. The drainage water and groundwater were medium saline. Soil was a poorly medium dense sand, have an electrical conductivity (EC) varying from 1 to 4 dS/m, and the vertical drainage was low efficiency. for sustainable cultivation it is recommended that (1) applying subsurface drainage system to improve washing of soil salts (2) changing the cropping system at the scheme to meet soil salinity levels (3) periodic monitoring for the irrigation water, drainage water, soil salinity, and the groundwater are important issue to manage crop pattern and drainage water.