Threats to Agriculture Lands at Al-Wafra, Southern Part of Kuwait Raafat MISAK* 1) , Hamdy El GAMILY 1), 2) and Wafaa HUSSAIN 3) Abstract: The Al-Wafra agricultural area is located at the southern fringes of Kuwait, close to the Saudi Arabia border with an approximate land area of 17,000 hectares. Since 2006, this area faced several environmental impacts in terms of water logging and soil salinization. The soil degradation, depletion of crop yields and loss of productive lands is mainly due to misuse of brackish groundwater. Some 600 large diameter flowing wells with minimum discharge of 30 m 3 /hour were developed in the area tapping the Dammam Formation. The water flowed without any control with salinity ranging from 5000 to 7000 mg/l. Drainage systems were not developed and the water accumulated in low lying farms forming water ponds. Due to high temperatures and evaporation in summer, the soils were highly salinized and cultivation abilities were nearly demolished. In 2009 and 2010, about 72% of the flowing wells were controlled by governmental organizations. Consequently, water ponds disappeared and soils were dried up. The main objectives of this study are to: 1) assess the magnitude of soil salinization in representative farms at Al-Wafra area; and 2) propose economically feasible and environmentally sound solutions to overcome the problem. The following field, laboratory and desk investigations were conducted: 1) assessment of the problem through field and remote sensing measurements; 2) examinations of six representative soil profiles; and 3) collecting and analyzing of 36 soil samples. Also, Google Earth images dated 2008 and 2011 were used to monitor affected sites. Finally, scientific solutions such as mixing saline soils with clean sands and soil washing were proposed and evaluated. Key Words: Dammam formation, Flowing wells, Google Earth, Soil salinization, Water logging 1. Introduction As stated by the Public Authority of Agriculture Affairs & Fish Resources (2006), soil salinization caused by inappropriate irrigation practices affects 60 Mha, which represent about 24% of all irrigated land worldwide. In Africa, salinization accounts for 50% of irrigated land. Increasing soil salinization is also noticed in India, Pakistan, China, and Central Asia. In Egypt, 35% of the agricultural land suffers from soil salinity. In Kuwait, agricultural areas cover about 2.5% of the country (KISR, 1999) and are geographically distributed in three main areas (Fig 1). to include: Abdaly (northern part), Kabd (central part) and Al-Wafra (southern part). Al-Wafra Agricultural Area (about 17,000 hectares) is located at the southern fringes of Kuwait, close to the Kuwait - Saudi Arabia border. The ground elevation of this area ranges between 33 m above sea level (northeastern side) and 117 m above sea level (southwestern side). This area supplies Kuwait with a wide variety of vegetables and fruits. The soil of Al-Wafra Agricultural Area is dominated by deep sands, which are underlain by a gatch bed (impervious zone) at shallow depths rarely exceeding 2 m (KISR, 1999). The groundwater (main irrigation source before using treated waste Fig. 1. Satellite image of Kuwait from 2010 showing the location of agriculture areas (Abdaly, Kabd and Al-Wafra). water) was exploited from two aquifers. An upper aquifer consists of sands and gravel (Kuwait Group) and a deeper fractured limestone aquifer (Dammam Formation). The total salinity of the groundwater of Kuwait Group ranges from 4,000 to 9,000 ppm, while that of Dammam Formation varies from 3000 to 6000 ppm (Ministry of Electricity and Water, 2011 statistical year book). As stated in the Water profile of Kuwait (2007), only * Corresponding Author: rmisak@kisr.edu.kw Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Kuwait, B.O.Box:24885 Safat 13109 1) Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR), Kuwait 3) Manspura University, Egypt 2) National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences (NARSS), Egypt Received, September 16th, 2013; Accepted, March 12th, 2014 － DT11 Refereed Paper － 沙漠研究 24-1, 9-12 (2014) Journal of Arid Land Studies