Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-g78kv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-30T20:34:39.524Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

8 - Future irrigation planning in Egypt

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 February 2012

P. P. Howell
Affiliation:
Wolfson College, Cambridge
J. A. Allan
Affiliation:
University of London
Get access

Summary

Introduction

The Sudan has yet to utilise its full share of the Nile flows as defined by the 1959 Nile Waters Agreement; Egypt already takes its full allocation. The regional drought during the 1980s has concentrated thinking on methods of improving the efficiency of water use within Egypt. Efficiency requires the maximum re-use of water within the Nile Basin whilst maintaining essential low flows in the Delta to prevent salination. Irrigating areas of the western desert from the Nile offers no potential for re-use of water and is therefore an ‘inefficient’ use. Enterprising private farmers using groundwater or lifting drainage water point the way to increasing re-use. Management problems must also be addressed. The advent of easy-to-use computer simulations of the irrigation system will permit experienced engineers to try out alternative operational procedures.

The problem

In the first ten years of operation after the completion of the High Dam the level in Lake Nasser continually rose and there was some speculation about the possibility that there was more water available than had been envisaged. The 1980s brought us down to earth quickly and dramatically with the Lake dropping to critically low levels by the end of 1987 and the real question of whether this drought condition was a permanent proposition for the future. There was some respite in 1988 but flows were down again by 1989.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Nile: Sharing a Scarce Resource
A Historical and Technical Review of Water Management and of Economical and Legal Issues
, pp. 195 - 204
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×