Water resources management in modern Egypt 01

History br Aswan High Dam NASA satellite photo br The history of modern water management in Egypt begins with the construction of the Old Aswan Dam and barrages on the Nile in the 19th and early 20th century These structures raised the water level so that water could be diverted into large irrigation channels running in parallel to the river The water regime of the river was changed fundamentally in 1970 when the Aswan High Dam was completed eliminating the annual

Nile flood While the dam greatly increased water availability for Egyptian agriculture it caused other problems such as increased erosion of the Nile Delta Furthermore water quality deteriorated through drainage return flows and discharges of untreated municipal and industrial wastewater Beginning in the 1980s wastewater treatment improved and water quality in the Nile also gradually improved again Until 1992 the government decided which crops farmers had to grow which allowed it to deliver specific volumes of water to each canal based on the water needs of the crops In 1992 a major change occurred when cropping patterns were liberalized and farmers were free to grow what they wanted At the same time the government began to transfer the responsibility for the management of branch canals to water user associations a process also called irrigation transfer

In the mid 1990s the government also initiated three mega projects to expand irrigation to new lands in the desert br Infrastructure br Existing infrastructure br Water resources management in Egypt depends on a complex set of infrastructure along the entire length of the river The key element of this infrastructure is the Aswan High Dam that forms Lake Nasser The High Dam protects Egypt from floods stores water for year round irrigation and produces hydro power br The Ibrahimiya Canal in Minya br Downstream of the Aswan Dam there are seven barrages to increase the river s water level so that it can flow into first level irrigation canals One of them is the 350 160 km long Ibrahimiya Canal completed in 1873 the largest artificial canal in the world It branches off the left bank of the Nile in Assiut and then runs parallel to the river Its discharge is increased by the Assiut Barrage completed in 1903 Other large barrages exist at Esna and Naga Hammadi on the main Nile as well as the

Delta Barrage the Sefta Barrage and the Damietta Barrage on the Damietta branch and the Edfina barrage on the Rosetta branch of the Nile Water also flows from the Nile to the Faiyum Oasis through a canal called Bahr Yussef that dates back to Pharaonic times From the oasis it flows to the Birket Qarun Lake Moesis The Fresh Water Canal runs from Cairo to Ismailia and the Sweet Water Canal runs in parallel to the Suez Canal enabling navigation and supplying drinking water to the cities along the Canal Both canals were completed in 1863 The Mahmoudiya Canal links the Nile to Alexandria Completed in 1820 it used to have an important role for navigation but nowadays is used primarily for irrigation and to supply Alexandria with drinking water br The Delta Barrage on the Damietta branch of the Nile from downstream br Irrigation canals are classified into principal canals Rayah main canals first level canals branch canals second level canals distribution canals Mesqas or third level canals and irrigation ditches Merwas Flow in the principal and main canals is continuous in the branch and distribution canals it is on a rotation basis