This paper aims to propose methods to mitigate the risks of flash flood events in arid rural communities with poor infrastructure. A flash flood management case study was conducted at Afouna Village in Egypt, which is characterized by an arid climate and faced a devasting flash flood in 2015. First, the flash flood was modelled and it was found that it corresponds to a 100 year return period flood that led to an almost 13 million m³ total runoff volume. A structural protection approach, using an artificial infiltration pond, was applied to mitigate the flooding risks through water harvesting and recharging the groundwater of the Moghra aquifer. In this study, a novel approach was proposed, which is substituting the low permeability silty sand (2.0 × 10⁻⁴ m/s) in the pond area with a high permeability one (9.6 × 10⁻³ m/s), which will enhance water harvesting and reduce direct evaporation. Modern techniques of hydrological modelling were utilized in order to achieve the optimal use, and harvesting, of flash flood water.

Transient events are frequent in water distribution systems. However, until now, most of the applications based on transient analyses are merely theoretical. Additionally, their implementation to real engineering problems is limited due to several physical phenomena accompanying transient waves, which are not accounted for in the classic approach, such as unsteady friction. This study investigates different unsteady friction models’ performance in terms of accuracy, efficiency, and reliability to determine the most-suited engineering practice. As a result of this comparison, Vítkovský’s unsteady friction model was found to be the best fit and was then implemented in WANDA commercial software. The implementation was verified with experimental data based on a reservoir–pipe–valve system. The model proved excellent performance; however, it was noticed that it fell short in simulating plastic pipes, where viscoelastic effects dominate. The upgraded software was then tested on different hydraulic networks with varying pipe materials and configurations. The model provided significant improvement to water hammer simulations with respect to wave shape, damping, and timing.

This study investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ever Given ship blockage on the air quality in Suez Canal region. Nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), sulfur dioxide (SO₂), carbon monoxide (CO), and aerosol optical depth (AOD) were studied, and data were obtained from satellite instruments. The study compared monthly average data for 2020, 2021, and 2022 with a baseline period of 2017–2019 to investigate the pandemic’s effect. The study also analyzed the corresponding period of the canal blockage to identify its impact on air pollution levels. The pandemic had a significant role in decreasing NO₂ by 2.5 × 10¹⁴ molecule/cm² and SO₂ by 0.05 DU due to reduced car traffic and industrial activities. A reduction in AOD by 20% and CO concentration in the range from 3.5% to 4.7% was reported in early 2020. During the blockage, NO₂ and SO₂ levels decreased by 14.4% and 66.0%, respectively, while CO and AOD index increased by 12.68% and 51.0%, respectively. The study concludes that the containment measures during the pandemic had a positive impact on the environment, which shows how the reduction in the anthropogenic activities, especially industrial and transportation activities, have improved the air quality. Thus, stricter actions are needed to protect the environment; for example, the transition towards the using of electric vehicle is necessary, which is part of Egypt’s strategy to transition towards a green economy. The government should also adopt a policy to trade carbon emissions reduction certificates to help reduce air pollution.