A sustainable solution for flood and rain hazard using remote sensing & GIS: New Cairo

Abstract

Climate changes have exposed many countries to the risks of heavy rains and floods that may lead to the loss of lives and damage to properties. The trend in prioritizing the establishment of stormwater drainage systems in urban areas in Egypt came after the provision and completion of drinking water. This necessitated the implementation of permanent solutions to absorb the unprecedented amounts of rainwater and torrential rain, which were not taken into account when designing the existing sewage networks. Furthermore, there is a lack of water resources and the existing water resources are less than the demand. Therefore, this research study aimed to take advantage of the stormwater that falls on residential neighborhoods by making underground reservoirs or retention ponds to protect these areas from the damage caused by the rains and reusing it in irrigating local green area inside these regions, to achieve sustainable water resources solutions for these areas. Satellite imagery, DEM & ArcGIS are used. A hydrological calculation for 24 different storms, with 4 different return periods for New Cairo City. However, it is the basin of interest that includes public green spaces for rain harvesting and storage for irrigation. For avoiding the risks of heavy rains in a city that hasn’t stormwater networks, and get a sustainable solution by using the water from rainfall for irrigation through using sub-areas of some public green spaces such as retention ponds or ground reservoirs, using the runoff volume shall save approximately 6 days of irrigation per storm.