ENTRY LEVEL PROJECT DATA

Geotopography:
The Sidi Khalifa region is consisted from both coastal line plains at its western part, and
hill mass taking place at the most of the eastern part of area. The location of the site Camp 87 is
at the bottom of the hill mass, as well as the route of the channel that will be the subject of this
project, at arial distance approx. 30 km from the city of Benghazi - center. Considering the hilly
region that is vast around the channel route, we can determine that the runoff for rainfall amount
will cover significant area around location of interest, and with hills and natural gullies sloping
towards the western coastal plain’s region; thus, we can be certain in high estimates, that the
mass of rainfall will satisfy the volume demands of the constructed reservoir at Camp 87.

Coastal Area

Camp 87
Distance 28 km

Hill Mass
Plain’s Area

Benghazi

Picture 4. Approximative distance from Benghazi center to Camp 87 with Sidi Khalifa wider
region; Source: GooglemapPro
 Camp 87

Future Channel zone

Picture 5. Micro-location of vicinity of site Camp 87 and channel area; Source: GooglemapPro
Geomorphology and Geology:
Geomorphology is the field responsible for understanding the surface of the planet Earth
and the processes that shape it, both today and in the past. Geomorphology has several parts that
deal with specific land forms of different living environments e.g., desert geomorphology and
river geomorphology, however, these parts are united by the central processes that cause them;
mainly tectonic and climatic processes. Geomorphology seeks to understand the history and
dynamics of landform changes, and attempts to predict future changes through a combination of
field observations, physical experiments, and mathematical models. Libya opens to the
Mediterranean in the north and is bordered by Tunisia, Algeria, Niger, Chad, Sudan and Egypt.
Libya consists of three historical areas: Tripolitania in the northwest, Fezzan in the southwest
and Cyrenaica in the northeast.

Cyrenaica occupies an area of 160,000 km2 it is bordered to west and south by elements
of the greater Sirte Basin, the Ajdabiya Trough, and on the east by the Marmarica Platform of the
western desert of Egypt. Geochemical studies indicate northeast Libya is a fairly promising area
for hydrocarbon potential, due to a favorable framework of structure and stratigraphy. The area
contains Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Tertiary reservoirs and traps. Northeast Libya contains large
quantities of continental and marine sediments. The sandstone reservoirs are widely distributed,
with adequate volumes of source rocks sufficiently deeply buried to have generated hydrocarbon,
and the presence of thick sections of shale for sealing potential. Libya is underlain by
Precambrian igneous and metamorphic basement rock, which only outcrops at a few
locations. These ancient rocks include schist, gneiss, quartzite and granite, known from
boreholes.
 Benghazi is one of the sub-regions of the area referred to as Cyrenaica, the others being
the Jebel Akhdar and the coastal plain running east of Apollonia. Cyrenaica is surrounded by
desert on three sides.

Benghazi is surrounded by the "barr", arid steppe. The Jebel Akhdar, literally, "the Green
Mountain", just north of Benghazi, rises to the east. Here the vegetation and climate are more
Mediterranean in feel with none of the desert landscapes found further south. A large section of
the western Jebel Akhdar is taken up by the fertile Marj plain. Further east is the second level of
the Jebel Akhdar, between 500 meters and over 875 m above sea level, often thickly wooded and
cut by ravines. Annual rainfall here, especially around Cyrene, can reach 500 millimeters. The
soil in Benghazi is a rich red color and very clayey.

Picture 6.
Fundamental Geomorphology of NE Libya
Source: Hydrological Sciences Journal - Dr. R. O. van Everdingen,

Published online: 29 Dec 2009.

 Picture 7. Soil Map of NE Libya

Source: JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE - European Soil Data Centre (ESDAC) - National Soil
Maps (EUDASM).

Table 1. Land
characteristics and threshold values
 Source: Libyan Soil Databases

Climate and Hydrology:

Libya is mostly dry and arid country, the Sahara Desert covers about 95% of Libya’s
land, most of the arable and pasture lands are located in the northern part of the narrow
Mediterranean coastal line. The water resources are considered scarce, based on the scarcity of
surface water resources and other sources as the water desalination and wastewater treatment,
Libya depends heavily on groundwater, which amounts to approximately 95%, the country
floating on the vast reserves of non-renewable groundwater, the world largest system of Nubian
Sandstone aquifer is located under the southern part of the Libyan desert.
Most of the citizens of Libya live in a narrow strip along the Mediterranean where there
are good roads, communication and land. Groundwater in the coastal zone is generally of poor
quality and volume. The development of the coastal zone is significantly hampered by the lack of
quality sources of usable water. Surface water supplies are extremely limited, but large areas are
available for cultivation and irrigation. Huge amounts of high-quality groundwater exist inland,
both in the east and west of the country. This water was left there mainly from the Pleistocene
epoch when this region consisted of large grassy expanses with significant rainfall.
The interior of the country is a desert, part of the great Sahara, with annual average
precipitation of only a few millimeters. For many years, there have been thoughts in Libya on the
topic of bringing underground water from the desert to increase municipal water supplies and
improve agriculture and industry in the coastal zone. Because of its multifunctional role and
importance, fresh water is the most important feature, hidden capital and general all-
encompassing good. Unlike any other natural potential, at the same time, water resources
represent one of the main ecological, economic and social categories that are crucial for the
fulfillment of biological, production and aspirational needs. Therefore, the request for its
preservation and protection is one of the most important tasks for the prevention of risks in the
environment and future sustainability. The recent state of the problem and certainly its future
territorial expansion and structural multiplication indicate that.
There is a widespread water deficit as evidenced by declination in water levels and
deteriorating water quality, especially around agricultural land and in urban areas where overuse
of groundwater reduces its level and thus allows saltwater intrusion.
According to some estimates, the drop in the water level in the shallow groundwater
outcrops in the past four decades is more than one meter per year, and the total dissolved
substances exceeded 9,000 milligrams per liter. As a result, water resources become unusable due
to saltwater intrusion in coastal outcrops in the Jifara plain, Sirte, Jebal El Akhdar. A recent
report notes that between now and mid-century, some of Libya's wettest and most populated
areas along the Mediterranean coast will face an increase in dry, rainless days. That number of
dry days will increase from the current 101 to an estimated 224 days. This indicates the need to
monitor, analyze and forecast climate variations. In addition, changing temperature and
precipitation regimes cause frequent changes in the water balance, which is vital for monitoring
and controlling irrigation and flood control systems, water storage for hydropower plants, and
production systems.

Name: Type of land: Well Depth Way of use:

(m)

El-Marj Shallow soil developed on 248 Drinking water, agriculture.

limestone rocks up to 10
cm thick.
Albayda Shallow soil developed on 300 Drinking water, technical
limestone rocks up to 10 water.
cm thick.
Susa Clay 42 Water for agriculture.
Ras al-Hilal Clay 200 Drinking water, technical
water, water for agriculture.

Table 2 - Locations of wells in northeastern Libya

Palmer Drought Severity Index (Palmer Drought Severity Index - PDSI), 1 which assigns
positive numbers when conditions are unusually wet for a particular region and negative
numbers for unusually dry conditions. A reading of -4 or less is considered extreme drought.
According to this parameter, Libya belongs to the regions that could face more than extreme
drought conditions. Scientists estimate that climate change could wipe out 20-30% of species
worldwide by the end of the century. Libya will face rising sea levels, ocean acidity, rising sea
surface temperatures, and changing or ceasing ocean currents.
Development projects on water resources in Libya include steps to use surface water; in
addition to building thousands of reservoirs and tanks. Sixteen large dams were built with an
estimated annual capacity of 300 million m 3, and over 100 million m3 of water is used annually
for agricultural purposes. The Great Man-made River Project alleviates pressure on water
resources in northern parts of Libya, such as the Jifara plains. Successful adaptation to climate
change for the management of groundwater resources and the use of global climate change
models (GCMs) at the national level in Libya requires a number of conditions and elements. The
national strategy must include: appropriate institutional arrangements, including systematic
capacity planning, setting consistent policies, measures and regulatory frameworks.
Libya is one of the driest parts of the world (more than 90% is the Sahara Desert), and
only a narrow coastal region (less than 5% of the country) receives most of the rainfall. The
discovery of oil in the deserts of southern Libya in 1953 also led to the discovery of vast
quantities of fresh water trapped in outcrops beneath the Libyan desert. The water system is

1
An index measuring drought based on recent rainfall and temperatures.
located under the eastern part of the Sahara and includes the political borders of Libya, Chad,
Sudan and Egypt. This outcrop covers an area of slightly more than two million square
kilometers and contains about 150,000 cubic kilometers of underground freshwater.
Most of Libya was previously supplied with water from expensive desalination plants
located on the coast, leaving little water for irrigating agricultural land, which is vital in the
desert country. In addition, the coastal springs historically used by the city of Tripoli to supply
drinking water have begun to become seriously polluted with increasing salinity. In 1983, work
began on a major engineering project known as the Great Man-Made River Project, when water
from the desert springs of the coastal region and most of the 6,3 million people living in Libya
began to be supplied. is also used for agricultural purposes through irrigation.
Searching for oil under the sand in 1953, instead of oil, Libyans found vast reserves of
fresh water, some of which are only 100 meters below the surface. The largest is the Kufra basin,
which has an underground water capacity of 20,000 cubic kilometers; followed by the Sirte
Basin, with 10,000 cubic kilometers of water; Murzuk Basin, with a capacity of 4,800 cubic
kilometers of water and Hamadah Basin, with a capacity of 4,000 cubic kilometers. Libya
receives almost no rain (only from 10 mm to 500 mm), while evaporation is very high due to the
great heat. As a result of all these factors, and after considering the option of creating a
desalination plant, transporting water from tankers and transferring water through a pipeline
from southern Europe, it was decided that there is no better solution to the water crisis in Libya
than the launch of the "Great Man-Made River Project". The project aims to extract water from
underground natural reservoirs and transport it to cities across northern Libya. The water
reserves discovered in Libya are estimated to be the amount that flows down the Nile in 200
years, and should last for 4,860 years, based on an annual extraction of 1,38 billion cubic meters.
Given the global shortage of fresh water, some analysts fear that the reserves may become a
target for future overexploitation.
Table 3 - Max and min temperature and rain data for the whole year as an average taken from
last 12+ years of historical data for Benghazi
Source: Worldweatheronline

Table 4 - Yearly Rainfall and Rain Days Averages

 Source: Worldweatheronline

Table 5 - Rainfall Averages

Source: Worldweatheronline

Rainfall/ Precipitation in Benghazi, Libya:

- Benghazi is endowed with on balance 258 mm of rainfall per year, or 21,5 mm per
month.

- On average there are 57 days per year with more than 0,1 mm of rainfall (precipitation)
or 4,8 days with a quantity of rain, sleet, snow etc. per month.

- The driest weather is in June, July and August when an average of 0 mm of rainfall
(precipitation) occurs.

- The wettest weather is in January when an average of 69 mm of rainfall (precipitation)

occurs.
 Table 6 - Rainfall Averages
Source: http://www.benghazi.climatemps.com/

Precipitation amounts to 270 millimeters per year: it is therefore scarce. It ranges from
0 mm in the driest months (June, July, August) to 65 mm in the wettest ones (January,
December).
 Table 7 - Rainfall Averages
Source: Climates to travel – online

Picture 7. Annual Rainfall in Libya

Source: Climates to travel – online
 Table 8 - Rainfall Intensity
Source: Design of Water, Foul and Storm Networks for 87 Camp, Sidi Khalifa Benghazi
Concept Design Report, Doc. No. WD-02220013-SK-NF-DR-HY-01-00

NOTES:
*These is the complete collection of Entry Level Project Data (except the Survey
data; those are gathered and provided directly at the site by survey engineer responsible for
that type of work), that the project designer is taking into consideration for the purpose of
modeling, calculation and development of this project. All of the data have been acquired
via internet and through (mostly) University/Science oriented sites. Some international
meteorology sites were also used, as a source for harvesting information that will further
serve as an input data for relevant calculations and mathematical modeling.
*Project Designer is the considering data collected valid for use in development of
this project, considering the sources of their origin that are widely accepted throughout
International academic and scientific communities all around the world.