Wadi Nahela

Wadi Nahela
Wādī Ghēl
Alt text for image
Wadi Nahela - middle course. View from the ruins area of an old village
Wadi Nahela is located in United Arab Emirates
Wadi Nahela
Wadi Nahela is located in Persian Gulf
Wadi Nahela
Wadi Nahela is located in West and Central Asia
Wadi Nahela
Native nameوادي نحيله (Arabic)
Location
Country United Arab Emirates
Emirate Ras Al Khaimah
Physical characteristics
SourceAt an equidistant point located between the Jabal Ash Sharaf 639 m (2,096 ft) and Aqbat Al Kibs 1,209 m (3,967 ft), in the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah.
 • elevation903 m (2,963 ft)
MouthIn the Sе̄ḩ Al Bīr area,[1] which is part of the large Jiri plain floodplain, on the administrative boundary between Al Fahlain,[2] and the historic city of Khatt.[3]
 • coordinates
25°39′16.34″N 55°59′58.13″E / 25.6545389°N 55.9994806°E / 25.6545389; 55.9994806
 • elevation
21 m (69 ft)
Length15.3 km (9.5 mi)
Basin size38.84 km2 (15.00 sq mi)
Basin features
River systemWadi Nahela / Wādī Ghēl / Wadi Ghil
Tributaries 
 • leftWadi Diwerah and Wadi Al Mawarid
 • rightWadi Baqal

The Wadi Nahela (Arabic: وادي نحيله, romanizedWādī Nḥīlh), also known as Wādī Ghēl, Wadi Ghil, Wadi Nahail, Wadi Nahala, Wadi Nehaila or Wadi Nuhaila,[4] is a dry valley or river with intermittent flow, which flows almost exclusively during the rainy season, located at the northeast of the United Arab Emirates, in the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah.

It forms its own drainage basin, which has an approximate area of 38.84 km2 (15.00 sq mi),[5] and is limited to the north and northeast by the Wadi Naqab hydrographic basin; to the east with the Wadi Kiriba;[6] to the southeast with the Wadi Al Tawiyeen basin;[7] to the southwest with minor wadis that pour their waters into the great alluvial plain of Jiri plain,[8][9] near the town of Khatt; and to the west with the same plain, into which it flows.[10]

Almost all this hydrographic basin is in the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah. Only a small portion of 0.77 km2 (0.30 sq mi) south of the basin belongs to the Emirate of Fujairah.

View of Wadi Baqal, a tributary of Wadi Nahela, as it passes through the town of Baqal

The highest point is located at the eastern end, at the top of Jabal Harf (1,420 m (4,660 ft)),[4][5] on whose western slope the Wadi Baqal originates,[11][12] and other important tributaries and sub-tributaries of the Wadi Nahela.

The most prominent towns in the Wadi Nahela watershed are Baqal[11][13] and Tala, although there are other small villages and farms scattered around, most of them without permanent inhabitants.[14]

  1. ^ Jāmiʻat al-Imārāt al-ʻArabīyah al-Muttaḥidah. Geoprojects (U.K.) Ltd., The National atlas of the United Arab Emirates, Al Ain : United Arab Emirates University - 1993
  2. ^ Mindat.org - Al Faḩlayn, Ra’s al Khaymah, United Arab Emirates
  3. ^ Mindat.org - Khatt, Ra’s al Khaymah, United Arab Emirates
  4. ^ a b FCO 18/1969 - 1959 - Sketch map drawn by Julian Walker for boundary delimitation: Dibba - The National Archives, London, England <https://www.agda.ae/en/catalogue/tna/fco/18/1969>
  5. ^ a b Al-Farraj, Asma & Harvey, Adrian. (2004). Late Quaternary interactions between aeolian and fluvial processes: A case study in the northern UAE. Journal of Arid Environments. 56. 235–248. 10.1016/S0140-1963(03)00054-5. <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/256941317_Late_Quaternary_interactions_between_aeolian_and_fluvial_processes_A_case_study_in_the_northern_UAE>
  6. ^ Mindat.org - Wādī Kirībā, Ra’s al Khaymah, United Arab Emirates
  7. ^ Mindat.org - Ţawīyayn, Al Fujayrah, United Arab Emirates
  8. ^ Trucial States: water resources; with hydrological and groundwater survey - Ref. FO 1016/840 - 1965 - The National Archives, London, England <https://www.agda.ae/en/catalogue/tna/fo/1016/840/n/184>
  9. ^ Lorimer, John (1915). Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Vol II. British Government, Bombay. p. 941.
  10. ^ Application of a hydrological model in a data poor arid region catchment: a case study of Wadi Ham - Mohamed Mustafa Al Mulla PhD Thesis Academic Year 2005-2006 - Supervisor: Dr Ian P. Holman - December 1, 2005 - Cranfield University at Silsoe - Institute of Water and Environment <https://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/1826/3061/Mohamed%20Al%20Mulla%20Thesis%202005.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y>
  11. ^ a b Map of Trucial States, Muscat and Oman - Rams - Scale 1:100 000 - Published by D Survey, Ministry of Defence, United Kingdom (1971) - Edition 3-GSGS - The National Archives, London, England <https://www.agda.ae/en/catalogue/tna/fco/18/1785>
  12. ^ Mindat.org - Wādī Baqal, Ra’s al Khaymah, United Arab Emirates
  13. ^ Mindat.org - Baqal, Ra’s al Khaymah, United Arab Emirates
  14. ^ "Masters of the mountains". The National. Retrieved 2024-04-30.