COUNTRY
PROFILE - EGYPT
Egypt is a country of ancient genuine civilization and deeply rooted culture
and is situated at the north-east extremity of Africa in the heart of
the Arab world. It lies between latitudes 22° and 32°N and longitudes
25° and 35°E. The country has a geographical area of 1,001,450
sq.km. of which about 4% is inhabited around Nile valley and delta. The
country has a population of over 69 million (2001) and ranks second largest
in Africa.
Land Use
Majority of the land
is desert. Most cultivated lands are located close to the Nile banks,
its main branches and canals. Currently, the inhabited area is about 12.5
million feddans (1 feddan = 1.04 acres) and the cultivated agriculture
land is about 7.85 millions feddans. The per capita cultivated land declined
from about 0.23 feddans in 1960 to about 0.13 feddans in 1996. The per
capita crop area declined from 0.4 feddans in 1960 to about 0.2 feddans
in 1966. The sharp decline of per capita and both cultivated land and
crop area resulted in the decrease of the per capita crop production.
The current system of land tenure resulted from the limited growth rate
of arable lands along with the high growth rate of population. The average
holding size of lands dropped to about 1.5 feddans in 1995 with a large
number of holders and tiny farms to irrigate.
Climate and Rainfall
Egypt has a hot, dry
climate with only two seasons scorching summers and mild winters. Summer
lasts from around May to October, and winter lasts from around November
to April. January temperatures range from an average high of 18°C
in Cairo to an average high of 23°C in Aswan. July temperature reaches
an average high of 36°C in Cairo, and 41°C in Aswan. Daily temperatures
in the Egyptian deserts vary greatly. The average daytime high temperature
is 40°C, while the temperature may drop to 7°C after sunset. North
winds from the Mediterranean Sea cool the coast of Egypt during the summer;
so many wealthy Egyptians spend the hot summer months of July and August
in Alexandria.
Very little rain falls
throughout most of Egypt. But winter rainstorms sometimes strike the Mediterranean
coast. Most of Egypt receives very little rain. Winter rainstorms occasionally
strike the Mediterranean coast, where about 20 centimetres of rain fall
each year. Inland, rainfall decreases. Average annual rainfall in Cairo
is about 2.5 centimetres. Southern Egypt receives only a trace of rain
each year. Around the month of April, a hot windstorm called the Khamsin
sweeps through Egypt. Its driving winds blow large amounts of sand and
dust at high speeds. The khamsin may raise temperatures as much as 38
Celsius degrees in two hours, and the hot winds can damage crops.
River Basins
The Nile is the only
river basin of Egypt. Nile is the longest river of the world. The Nile
River flows through Egypt and 9 other countries viz., Sudan, Ethiopia,
Eritrea, Tanzania, the Democratic Congo, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, and
Kenya. Egypt lies at the end of Niles route towards sea and it receives
the Nile water after it gets emptied along with the route. There are no
tributaries joining Nile in the Egyptian territory.
Water Resources
Water resources in
Egypt are limited to the following resources :
• Nile River
Water,
• Rainfall and flash floods,
• Groundwater in the deserts and Sinai and
• Possible desalination of sea water
Each resource has
its limitation on use, whether these limitations are related to quantity,
quality, space, time, or use cost.
Nile River Water
Egypt’s main
and almost exclusive fresh water is Nile water, which supplies 96 % of
its total water. To ensure a fair share of Niles water, in 1959 Egypt
signed an agreement with Sudan on its use. The agreement specifies that
Egypt’s share of Nile water is 55.5 km3 per year and it is to be
released from Aswan High Dam constructed at the border of the Egypt.
Rainfall and Flash
floods
Rainfall on the Mediterranean
coastal strip decreases from eastward from 200 mm per year at Alexandria
to 75 mm year at Port Said. It also declines inland to about 25mm per
year near Cairo. The rainfall occurs only in the winter season and in
the form of scattered showers and therefore, it cannot be considered as
a dependable source of water.
Flash floods due to
short period are considered a source for fresh water and the mechanism
has been developed to harvest through this water. It is estimated that
about 1 (one) km3 of water can be utilized annually by this source.
Ground Water Resources
Ground water in the
western desert in the Nubian sandstone aquifer and extends below the vast
are of the New Valley governorate and the region east of Owaynat. The
ground water in the Sinai is mainly encountered in three different water-bearing
formations, the shallow aquifers in northern Sinai, the valleys aquifers
and the deep aquifers. The total amount of ground water abstraction in
the western desert and Sinai was estimated to about 4.8 km3.
Possible Desalination
of Sea Water
Egypt has 2400 km
of shore lines on both the Red Sea and Mediterranean sea therefore desalination
can be used as a sustainable water resource for domestic use in many locations.
This is actually practiced in the red sea coastal area to supply Tourism
villages and resort with adequate domestic water where the economic value
of the unit of water is high enough to cover the cost of desalination.
The future use of such resource for other purposes (agriculture and industry)
will largely depend on the rate of improvement in the technologies used
for desalination and the cost of needed power. If solar and wind energy
can be utilized as the source of power, desalination can become economic
for other uses. It may be crucial to use such resource in the future if
the growth of the demand for water exceeds all other available water resources.
Nevertheless, brackish ground water having a salinity of about 10,000
ppm can be desalinated at a reasonable cost providing a possible potential
for desalinated water in agriculture.
The amount of desalinated water at present is in the order of 0.03 km3
per year.
Non-conventional
Water Resources
Other sources of water
that can be used to meet part of the water requirements, which are called
non-conventional resources, which includes:
• The reuse of
agriculture drainage water
• The reuse of treated sewage water
• Reuse of treated Industrial water
These recycled water
sources cannot be considered independent resources and cannot be added
to Egypt’s fresh water resources. These sources need to be managed
with care and their environmental impacts evaluated to avoid any deterioration
in either water or soil quality. The total amount of such resources is
estimated to be 4.7 km3 in the year 1995-96.
The total water resources
at present is as under :
| Sources |
Water
in km3 |
| Nile
water |
55.50 |
| Ground
water |
04.80 |
| Desalination
of sea water |
00.30 |
| Non-conventional
water |
04.70 |
| Total |
65.03 |
Population and
cereal production
The population of the country in 1996 was 62 million and it is concentrated
in the Nile valley and delta. The projected population in the year 2025
is 95 million.
The per capita availability
of mean natural water was 972 cum per year and it will be 635cum in the
year 2025.
The cereal production
in the year 2002 was 21 million tones and it will have to be raised to
30 million tones in the year 2025 (estimated in proportion to population).
Water Demand
Agriculture and
Water Demand
Most of the cultivated
lands are close to the Nile banks, its main branches and canals. Currently
inhabited area is about 12.5 million sedans and the irrigated agricultural
land is about 7.85 million sedans (1 sedan = 1.04 acres). The average
annual water for agricultural use is estimated to be 59.9 km3 in the year
2000.
Agriculture requirements
in future include two main parts: the irrigation needs for the existing
cultivated lands and the expected expansion of irrigated lands.
Two main land reclamation
projects have been launched, in the year 1997, the first being El-Salam
Canal west of Suez Canal and El-Sheikh Jaber east of Suez Canal to reclaim
about 620,000 feddans. The second project is El-Sheikh Canal to reclaim
about 500,000 feddans in the south of New Valley. The agriculture requirement
in the year 2025 is estimated to be 69.43 km3.
Domestic &
Industrial Water Demands
The total municipal
water requirement was estimated to be 4.5 km3 in the year 2000, a portion
of water is actually consumed and the rest returns back to the system
(either to the sewerage system or by seepage to the ground water). The
requirement of domestic use is estimated to be 6.6 km3 in the year 2025.
The industrial water
requirement during the year 2000 was 7.8 km3 and it will be 10.56 km3
in the year 2025
Navigational Demands
The river Nile main
stream and part of irrigation network are being used for navigation when
the discharges to meet other agricultural demands are too low and provide
minimum draft required by ships.
Hydropower Requirement
There are no special
releases for hydropower at present, and releases for irrigation, municipal,
industrial, and navigation purposes are used to pass through turbines
at the High Aswan Dam.
Water requirement
for different sectors at present (2000) and estimated requirement in the
year 2025 are given below.
(km3) |
| Sector |
Demand
in 2000 |
Demand
in 2025 |
| Agriculture |
60.7 |
69.43 |
| Domestic water |
4.5 |
6.6 |
| Industry |
7.8 |
10.56 |
| Navigation |
0.3 |
0.3 |
| Total |
73.3=73 |
86.89=87 |
This can be met from
the following resources.
| Source |
Water
resource (km3 ) |
| Nile
Water (including Jonglei –1) |
57.50 |
| Ground
water (Nile aquifers) |
07.50 |
| Ground
water (in desert and Sinai) |
03.77 |
| Drainage
reuse in delta |
08.40 |
| Savings
due to changes in cropping patterns |
03.00 |
| Irrigation
improvement |
04.00 |
| Waste
water use |
02.20 |
| Flash
flood harvesting |
01.50 |
| Total |
87.67 |
Water Quality
Water supply system
in Egypt relies heavily on reuse of wastewater and drain water, high %
of which is untreated. Other issues are salinity from agriculture water,
pollution from municipal and industrial use and ground water contamination
from Nitrogen, Phosphate, and Potash due to excessive use of fertilizers.
One of the major issues
facing Egypt is the accelerated decline of water quality, which has a
direct impact on the quantity available for a specific use. The future
policy aims to implement a long-term strategy and prevent different resources
of pollutants from discharging the Nile water and other work bodies.
Strategies for
Water Management
Strategies for water
management are as under :
1. By optimizing use
of available resources :
• Minimizing
water losses,
• Carrying out improvement in irrigation projects.
• Diversification of cropping patterns
• Increasing the cost of recovery for the services of water distribution
2. Develop groundwater
strategies
• Using aquifer
as a storage reservoir the supplement surface water supply
• Use of modern irrigation method like sprinkler using ground water.
• Renewing aquifers underlying the Nile valley and delta and in western
desert and Sinai.
3. Re-use of agriculture
drainage water, sewage water and industrial waste water
4. Development of
surface water resources
• To increase
the inflow into the lake Nasser by implementing plant project
• Augmenting flash flood harvesting.
• Increasing the use of desalination of brackish water
5. Establishing water
uses association to promote farmer’s involvement and the participation
in water management.
6. Strengthening institutes,
dealing with water resources management to reflect integrated approach
of water management.
7. Privatisation of
part of activities such as operation and maintenance of some part of network.
8. Review of all existing
water resources laws and decrease classifying them into categories according
to their relation to water management aspects.
Egypt and ICID
Egypt joined ICID
in 1950 as founder member and has since been actively associated with
ICID activities at national as well as international level. Egyptian National
Committee hosted the 19th IEC (1968), 47th IEC and 16th Congress (1996),
6th Afro-Asian Regional Conference (1987) and will organize the 1st African
Regional Conference in December 2004. Mr. M. Suleiman was President, ICID
(1954-57). Mr. M. Suleiman (1950-54), Mr. M.A. Selim (1966-69), Mr. I.
Kinawy (1971-74), Dr. M.A. Abu-Zeid (1986-89), Dr. M.H. Amer (1989-92),
Dr. Safwat Abdel-Dayem (1992-95), Dr. Fatma A.R. Attia (1995-98), Dr.
Dia Ahmed El-Quosy (1996-2001), Dr.
Hussein Ehsan El-Atfy (2004-2007) and Dr.
(Mrs.) Samia El-Guindy (2008-11)were
the Vice Presidents. Egyptian
National Committee will organize 11th International Drainage Workshop at Cairo, Egypt in September 2012. Egyptian
National Committee is actively represented in 15 ICID workbodies. At present,
Dr. M.H. Amer is the Chairman and Engr. Hussien El-Atfy is the Secretary
of the ENCID.
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