WASSER IN DER LIBYSCHEN WUSTE AGYPTENS=WATER IN THE WESTERN DESERT OF EGYPT

For 4000 years the oases in the Egyptian section of the Libyan Desert have been feed with water from more than 1000 artesian springs and wells. Life in such an extremely arid region - almost without any precipitation - led to perfection of groundwater resource exploitation and irrigation practice. Already in antique times people knew how to develop new water resources by shallow wells and drilling, how to economise use of scarce water and to avoid soil damage. The Siwa oasis, where ancient water management is still visible in part, provides an example of the risks involved in implementation of modern instead of traditional irrigation methods.