Bridging the Gap Between Prevention Research, Education and Practice:Japan Egypt-Hydro Network (JE-HydroNet)

Sameh Ahmed Kantoush
Associate Professor, Civil Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering and Material Science, The German University in Cairo –GUC, New Cairo City, Main Entrance of Al-Tagamoa Al-Khames, Cairo – Egypt
Sameh.kantoush@guc.edu.eg

Mohamed Saber
Assistant professor, Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Assiut University, Assiut, 71516, Egypt

Tetsuya Sumi
Professor and Director of Water Resources Research Center, Disaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto University, Japan

Ibrahim Elshennawy
Professor and Director of Coastal Research Institute (CoRI), National Water Research Center (NWRC), Alexandria, Egypt

Medhat AzizProfessor, Nile Research Institute (NRI), National Water Research Center (NWRC), Delta Barrage (El-Qanatir), 13621/5, Cairo,Egypt

Mahmoud Senousy
professor, Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Assiut University, Assiut, 71516, Egypt

Haithm Awad
Assistant professor, Faculty of Engineering, Civil Engineering Department, Alexandria University, Egypt

Ahmed Sefelnaser
Assistant professor, Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Assiut University, Assiut, 71516, Egypt

ABSTRACT:This article outlines the development of a shared hydraulic and hydrology-based network that seeks to bridge the gap between research,education and practice. This network base was developed from the contextualised problems facing the Nile delta, Nile River system,and coastal managements in Egypt. Under the umbrella of GCOE-ARS project at Kyoto University, a joint project for research andeducation was established between Kyoto University and three institutional research units in Egypt.
Disaster Prevention Research Institute (DPRI), Kyoto University expert groups looked at problems of Nile Delta of Egypt related totheir expertise and initiated Japan Egypt-Hydro Network (JE-HydroNet). In view of the challenges that Egypt is facing in the waterresources and environmental issues, the project will help to mitigate the problems and its consequences. The exchange of qualitativeand quantitative information between Japanese and Egyptian groups will contribute to the efforts of Egypt in development ofinnovative measures for water resources management.
Keywords: Joint project in science and technology, Nile River Basin, Delta of Egypt, Japan Egypt Hydro Network (JE-HydroNet)

1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Context
The gap between education, research and practice in thehydraulics and hydrology field is recognized by many.
Bridging the gap can be achieved by involving thepractitioners in education and training and moreparticularly in the life-long learning processes.
Hydro-Engineering projects are becoming more andmore complex projects and have to be carried out inclose cooperation by several experts from different
disciplines and locations. Under the umbrella of Global
Center Of Excellence - Adaptation and Resilience in a
Sustainable/Survivable Society to extreme weather andwater conditions (GCOE-ARS) project at Kyoto
University, a joint project for research and education wasestablished between Kyoto University and three
institutional research units in Egypt (Assiut andAlexandria Universities, and National Water Research

Center (NWRC), Ministry of Water Resources andIrrigation (MWRI)).
Japan Egypt-Hydro Network (JE-HydroNet) wasinitiated after the visit of DPRI research group on March2009 to setup research projects concerning the Nile Riverand the Nile Delta of Egypt. On 26 October 2010 the firstmini-symposium was organized at Uji campus, Kyoto
University, Japan. The first symposium have served theexchange of information about the latest state of researchof water resources problems facing Nile Delta andencouraged the discussion about joint research project
activities and how to combine with consulting
practitioners. Three main topics concerning to flash floodand water resources, groundwater, sediment and coastalmanagements in the Nile River of Egypt were discussed.
Finally we discussed the importance of climate change
impacts on the Nile River Basin and the Delta of Egypt.
Vulnerability of the Nile River and Delta of Egypt
Upstream andin Nasser Lake

Downstream ofAswan High Dam

Delta, Irrigation andDrainage Networks

EnvironmentalrisksSocial behavior

Nile Delta floodingby seaSedimentation

Water quality andwater pollution

Environmental
degradation

Evaporation

Global warming andclimate change

Competing uses ofland

Aswan high dam(AHD) operation

Traditional irrigatedsystemInefficient natural
resources
management

Impacts ofdams upstreamof AHD

Limited available
water resources

Salt water intrusion

CoastalEnergyResources

Potential impactof sea level rise

On the other hand, however, floodwater can be an
important source of water replenishment in arid regions.
The wise use of floodwater in these areas is therefore
important for the sustainable management of water
resources. An overall aim of the research project is todevelop and implement an integrated flash flood
management strategy for the Wadi El-Arish, Sinai
Peninsula, Egypt, based on stakeholder and practitioners
participation.
Lake Nasser is causing flow and sediment flow regimes,
and reservoir sedimentation is causing serious impacts onriver morphology and scouring of delta and coastal
region (Abdelsalam, 2008). Moreover, it is important topredict the response of Aswan High Dam (AHD)
reservoir and the Nile Delta of Egypt to reservoir
sedimentations in the newly constructed or planned damson the upstream regions of the Nile basin. Moreover,
how these dams will effect on the sediment management
and operation of AHD. The worldwide sedimentmanagement techniques consist of three basin strategies:
sediment yield reduction, sediment routing, and sedimentremoval (Kantoush & Sumi, 2010).

Coastal erosion

Sediment
management
techniqueswater-logging

Negative impact offree crop pattern

Rise in groundwaterlevelsDegradation ofagricultural soil
fertility

Flash flood

Excessive pumping

Sea level rise
Negative effects
on fisheries
Climate change

Figure 1. Problems facing Nile River and delta of Egypt.

Egypt’s Nile delta with its coastal front on theMediterranean is considered vulnerable to the impacts ofAswan High Dam (AHD) operation and climate change(Figure 1). These factors also produce stressful effects onwater and agricultural resources, and social. The
Northern Egyptian Lakes, which constitute about 25% of
the total Mediterranean Wetlands and produce about 60%of the fish products, are also highly vulnerable to theimpacts of climate change. Moreover, energy resourceswere ranked as least vulnerable because projections ofhigher temperatures in an arid climate are expected toboost energy demands, while any reduction in Nilewaters would have a direct impact on hydroelectricity
generation.
Until today, no proper protection from flash floods
proposed for all Wadi basins in Egypt. Flash floods are
the result of short period heavy storms and the velocity
of floodwater depends mainly on topography of the Wadi
(height, slope, capacity of drainage network), and soil
characteristics. Flash floods are a major threat to humanlife and infrastructures. Unfortunately, there is often alack of data on key hydrological processes in arid areas(Gheith & Sultan, 2002). This limits the ability tounderstand the flooding process and use this knowledge
to minimize its threat to human health and well-being.

The coastal area of the Nile delta is subjected to severe
coastal erosion, even without accelerated sea level rise.
The World Bank (2005) highlights the present coastal
erosion and retreat of the Delta, which are aggravated byhuman interventions such as reduced sediment input,
groundwater extraction, and hard engineering work incoastal strip. In addition to the current trends, Egypt’s
Mediterranean coast and the Nile Delta have been
identified as highly vulnerable to climate change induced
Sea Level Rise (SLR). Some parts along the Nile Delta
coast have been protected by hard structures as well as
artificial nourishment that have been applied at somesectors.
Accordingly, the main objective of the network is toassess the vulnerability of the Nile Delta coastal zone toclimate change/sea level rise and to design an adaptation
strategy based on adaptation policy framework. Climate
Change Adaptation strategies will be vital for country as
Egypt. Adaptation options for Egypt’s water resources
meanwhile are closely intertwined with Egypt’s
development choices and pathways.

2. CONCEPT OF THE NETWORK AND
OBJECTIVES
2.1. History of the Network
Following Academic Exchange Agreements between
Disaster Prevention Research Institute Kyoto University(Japan) and the Faculty of Science of Assiut University(Egypt), a sincere and friendly discussions with a view tostrengthening the research and education, to promoting
the cooperation on scientific exchange and the public
understanding of science and technology, have beenstarted between Kyoto University and two otherinstitutional research in Egypt. The concept of theJE-HydroNet is illustrated in Fig. 2.

area of one of Egyptian Wadis; for instance at Wadi
El-Arish in Sinai peninsula. That aims at a sustainable
management of water resources and wise use offloodwater in arid areas. Based on rainfall-runoff andhydrodynamic modelling, flood-risk maps will be created
and best-storage options and suitable flood-protection
measures will be identified. This project will help toinstall measurement station for validation. Moreover, toincrease scientific and project based cooperation among
the different institutional units of the network.
2.1. Detailed Objectives

Figure 2. Concept of the seminar and partners.

A group of four researchers of Kyoto University made apreparatory field survey and meetings for establish ofcooperative research project among institutes inJE-HydroNet, between 23rd to 30th of March 2010, inAswan, Assiut, Alexandria, Rosetta, and Cairo in Egypt.
During the visit, the two counterparts agreed to hold thefirst symposium on 26 October 2010 at Uji campus,
Kyoto University, Japan. DPRI has invited threeEgyptian researchers representing each group and thesymposium was successfully held in Japan. Through thissymposium, 66 participants mainly from Japan andEgypt with various background and field of interest haveattended. Next year another planned joint conference isproposed to be continuation of these past meetings.
This network is first of all unique in the sense that groups
of international experts from a priori very distantscientific fields (hydraulics, Hydrology, flash flood andhazard map, dam operation, coastal management,
sediment management in reservoirs, numerical andexperimental modelling) initiated the JE-HydroNet, as
well as the strong extensive knowledge and decisionmaking responsibility of NWRC, Ministry of Water
Resources and Irrigation (MWRI). Second, a group ofresearchers at DPRI, Kyoto University have simulated
flash flood and ground water problems in the Delta andthe hydrology of the whole Nile Basin, by using
integrated hydrological model of Hydro-BEAM(Hydrological Basin Environmental Assessment Model)(Kojiri et al., 2002). The flash flooding Simulation has
been performed at Wadi basins of Nile River and Wadi
El-Arish using Global Satellite Mapping of Precipitation(GSMaP product). There is no available data forcalibration and validation most of these results, only theGSMaP product was calibrated with Global Precipitation
Climatology Centre (GPCC) monitored product toestimate the bias of the rainfall data at eleven aridsectors. Therefore, the network will make it possible forthe data sharing and set-up new measurement
instruments by the help of NWRC.
There is a need to set up an innovative system for rainfall
forecasting and early warning for flash-floods in the pilot

Improvement of flexibility, availability, sustainability
and environmental impacts of water resources in Nile
Delta by developing advanced methodology foroperation, monitoring, planning and management of thewater resources problem by focusing on: Set-up potential hazard map with a global flash flood
warning system; Assessment and evaluating of Wadi basins during theflash flood events;
 Adaptation of climate change;
 Sustainable integrated sediment management; Coastal erosion; Optimizing the dam operation;
 Better Mobility of young researchers: To help the
young researchers enhance their effectiveness as
research group leaders, and to increase the results they
achieve with modelling and measurements as well; To allow participants to practice and sharpen theirskills of interpersonal communication;
 To analyse the problem of flash flood, climatechanges, ground water modelling, sedimentmanagement and coastal problems.
 Final discussion about the continuation of the project,research methodology and exchange data andexperiences methods will be clarified.
Additional benefits through cooperation are:
 Regular seminars to exchange experience; Exchange research students (Master, PhD andpostdoctoral levels); International publications; Solution of local problems in Egypt and share its
experiences with Japanese researchers.
JE-HydroNet will be performed as the scientific network
to exchange young researchers and information among
related institutions towards a consistent standardized
methodology for management, and propose mitigation
projects.

3. DESCRIPTION OF THE ROAD MAP FOR
FUTURE COOPERATION
There are five groups of researchers from bothcounterparts. The five groups agreed to study thefollowing points under each group. Moreover, the closingsession of the symposium consisted of a brainstorming
session during which participants expressed their views
concerning the most important open questions that thenetwork should address in the near future. The following
is a summary of the main points made:Impacts of climate changes on the Nile Basin and theDelta of Egypt;
 Regional climate change and rainfall pattern; Verification of Global Satellite Mapping ofPrecipitation (GSMaP) output;
 Implementation on Nile Basin and Coastal
zones in Egypt;
 Social change.
Integrated water resources managements including
irrigation and ground water;
 Cooperation with Nile Basin countries; Training courses for Nile Basin countries; Water quality/quantity management; Water requirements policies and laws;
 Drought and wetting forecasting; Surface/ground water interaction andrecharge quantities;
 Salt water intrusion.
Reservoir sustainability management; Assessment of Aswan High Dam alternativesoperation;
 Impacts of upstream dams (constructed andproposed) in Ethiopia and Sudan on flow andsediment budget to Nasser Lake; Applicability for new types of hydropower
schemes (i.e pumping up storage); Reservoir training;
Coastal management; Hydrodynamic coastal erosion management; Sea Level Rise (SLR); Climate change impacts on waves andcurrents;
 Soft measures by using wetlands and lakes asa barrier; Compaction and subsidence of coastalsediments.
Flash flood disaster management; Warning System and Public awareness(control, management, and forecasting) Monitoring system and observational fieldstations (maintenance).

Finally there was widespread sentiment that we should
built a data sharing website for exchange the data andstarting a real cooperation between groups, before the next
get-together conference on 2011. Some of the roadmaps
for future steps are summarized as following: Establishment of JE-HydroNet data sharing, andobservational station for measurements;
 Constructing a new website for data sharing
information system; HydroBeam development and providing toEgyptian researchers;
 Establishing measurement stations in Egypt.

4.

CONCLUSION

This paper has tried to weave together ideas drawn fromresearch, education and from practice in supporting thedevelopment of international hydro network. Among
several proposed topics a case study of flash flood
management is presented. We need more focused research
approach on collaboration and measurement development
in areas of interest that are underpinned by complex
relations to a variety of work-related practices. We needmuch more data and field measurement stations forvalidation and accurate simulations.
The JE-HydroNet was formed with the aim of bringing
together the leading researchers from various disciplines
and institutional units that are active in the area of water
resources in Egypt, together with people from industry
who are responsible for practical implementations fromJapanese companies. The network helps us better
understand problems facing Nile River System and Deltaof Egypt and how these various groups of researcher
connect to one another and how, together, they cancontribute to the design and implementation of better
improvement of flexibility, availability, sustainability andenvironmental impacts of water resources in Nile Delta by
developing advanced methodology for operation,monitoring, planning and management of the water
resources problem. This initiative represents an exciting
opportunity to create an inclusive and dynamic researchgroup of interest bridging the gap between guidance
research and practice. It will enable us to examine theways in which learning about guidance is created andshared (beliefs, concepts, ideas, theories, actions) as wellas providing a potentially powerful engine to assist withthe search for new understandings of effective guidance tobenefit all groups.
REFERENCES
Abdelsalam, A.A. (2008): Sediment in the Nile River System.
UNESCO-IHP.
Gheith, H., and Sultan M. (2002): Construction of a hydrologic
model for estimating Wadi runoff and groundwater recharge
in the Eastern Desert. Egypt, J. of Hydrology. (263) 36–55.
Kantoush, S. A. and Sumi, T. (2010): River morphology andsediment management strategies for sustainable reservoir inJapan and European Alps. Annual report of Disas. Prev. Res.
Inst., Kyoto Univ., No. 53 B, pp.821-839.
Kojiri, T., Kinai, Y., and Park, J.H. (2002): Integrated river
basin environment assessment on water quantity and quality
by considering utilization processes. In: Proceedings of theInternational Conference on Water Resources andEnvironment Research, pp. 397-401.
Saber, M., Hamagutchi, T., Kojiri, T. and Tanaka, K. (2010):
Hydrological modeling of distributed runoff throughout
comparative study between some Arabian Wadi basins.
Annual J. of Hydraulic Eng., JSCE, Vol.54, pp. 85-90.
Saber, M. (2010): Hydrological approaches of Wadi system
considering flash floods in arid regions. Ph.D. thesis, KyotoUniversity.