Hydraulic assessment and capacity enhancement of a pump-fed canal within New Delta project: a case study of El Nasr Canal, Egypt

The New Delta is an ambitious project aimed at transforming desert areas into agricultural land and supporting Egypt’s food security. Water scarcity is a major challenge, requiring the use of groundwater, treated drainage water, and Nile water. El Nasr Canal, operated by five pumping stations, is intended to convey an additional 1.10 million m3 of water per day (12.73 m3/s) to the New Delta Canal supplying the South El-Dabaa Axis. This study assessed the hydraulic capacity and operational performance of El Nasr Canal for increasing the inlet discharge from the design discharge (Qd = 93.60 m3/s) to a target discharge (Qt = 106.33 m3/s). The novelty of this study lies in the quantitative evaluation of an existing pump-fed canal under increased discharge conditions by linking field-measured hydraulic conditions, sedimentation and roughness, and rehabilitation scenarios using SOBEK-1D. Field measurements characterized the existing hydraulic conditions, sedimentation, and canal roughness, and the model was calibrated using 34 water-level and 24 velocity measurements. The model showed good agreement with field measurements, with R2 = 0.987 for water levels and R2 = 0.933 for velocities. Sediment deposition along the canal was estimated at approximately 469,697 m3. Under the existing condition, the target discharge resulted in localized low freeboard and exceeded the permissible suction level at Pump Station 1. After sediment and weed removal, water levels decreased by up to 0.695 m, although localized freeboard constraints remained, with a minimum value of 0.26 m. Increasing the discharge also required approximately 15% additional hydraulic power. The findings support sediment and weed clearance, targeted maintenance, monitoring, and adjustment of downstream control levels before operating the canal at the target discharge.