Advancing Deserts, Africa, Environment, Food & Agriculture,
Headlines, Natural Resources, TerraViva United Nations, Water &
Sanitation  Mechanical Pumps Turning Oases into Mirages  The
water table is falling in Egypt's desert oases, raising
questions of sustainability. Credit: Cam McGrath/IPS   BAHARIYA
OASIS, Egypt, Jul 12 2014 (IPS) - Using a hoe, farmer Atef
Sayyid removes an earthen plug in an irrigation stream, allowing
water to spill onto the parcel of land where he grows dates,
olives and almonds.  Until recently, a natural spring exploited
since Roman times supplied the iron-rich water that he uses for
irrigation. But when the spring began to dry up in the 1990s,
the government built a deep well to supplement its waning flow.
Today, a noisy diesel pump syphons water from over a kilometre
below the ground. The steaming-hot water is diverted through a
maze of earthen canals to irrigate the orchards and palm groves
that lie below the dusty town of Bawiti, 300 kilometres
southwest of Cairo.  “The deeper