challenges facing egypt and the nile basin

Luxor, Egypt, 14-15 April 2013

Eng. Magdy Sayed AhmedNile Water Sector,

Ministry of Water Resources andIrrigation, Egypt

magdysayed61@yahoo.com

ITU Workshop on“ICT as an Enabler for Smart Water Management”

(Luxor, Egypt, 14-15 April 2013)

Challenges Facing Egypt and theNile Basin

WORLD SITUATION: Water Scarcity

2

276 INTERNATIONAL RIVER BASINS

3Rivers at Tensions: Longstanding, Always, Growing With Demand

•61 internationalrivers (out of 276worldwide)

•Many countriesper basin.

•Many basins percountry.

•Weak capacity•Conflicts

In Africa

4

Demographic changes - Population of Egypt and theWorld(Present and Future).

Bill

ion

cap

ita

5

Challenges FacingEgypt in WaterSector

in 2011Available Fresh Water Resources in Egypt

نھر النیل % 9555.5

تحلیة المیاه % 0.9

0.5المیاه الجوفیة العمیقة %1.9

1.1

الأمطار % 2.2

1.3

6

Nile Water

DesalinationRainfall

Gross58.4

DeepGroundwat

er 1.9%1.1 Billion m3

Fresh Water Resources is, and will continue to be, limited for Egypt

in 2017

نھر النیل % 90.1

55.5

تحلیة المیاه % 1.9

1.2

المیاه الجوفیة العمیقة %5.8

3.6

الأمطار % 2.2

1.3

Gross61.6

Nile Water

Desalination

Rainfall

DeepGroundwater 5.8%

3.6 Billion m3

Challenges Facing Egypt in WaterSector

in 2011

عة; 58.2 الزرا % 81.3

الشرب; 5.5 % 7.7

الصناعة; 7.6 % سمكیة; 10.6 الثروة ال

0.3 % 0.4

Gross71.6

Agriculture

IndustrialDomesti

c

FishBonds

Water Resources Uses in Egypt

7

Billion m3

Re-using available water multiple times is practiced widelySectoral competition on water resources is challenging

in 2017

الزراعة; 60.6% 75.8

الشرب; 8.0% 10.0

الصناعة; 11.0% 13.8

الثروة السمكیة; 0.3% 0.4

Gross79.9

Agriculture

IndustrialDomesti

c

FishBonds

Billion m3

Challenges FacingEgypt in WaterSector

Challenges Facing the Water Sectorin Egypt

• Water per capita decreased from1,893 m3 in 1959 to 700 m3 in2009 and expected to be 582 m3in 2025.

• Agricultural area per cap decreasedfrom 0.85 Acres in 1900 to 0.13Acres in 2009.

• Environmental deterioration (waterquality)

• On-farm water managementproblems (at farm level).

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Sea level rise From 4 to 8 million people

affected Great agricultural land losses Sea water intrusion

Challenges FacingEgypt in WaterSector

• Vulnerability of Nile Delta toClimate Change

Challenges Facing the Water Sectorin Egypt

Decrease Per-Capita Share of Water andAgricultural Lands

10

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

1897 1907 1917 1927 1937 1947 1960 1970 1986 1992 2000 2025

Agr

icul

tura

l lan

ds (f

edda

ns)

Wat

er m

3

Years

Water Agricultural Lands

Nile Basin Countries

11

• Burundi• DRC• Eretria• Egypt• Ethiopia• Kenya• Rwanda• Sudan• South Sudan• Tanzania• Uganda

Atbara

Blue Nile

EquatorialLakes

BahrGhazal

White Nile

Main Nile

12

11 Riparian States with 424 million Capita (2010)

, 648 million Capita (2030).

Drainage Basin : about 2.9 million square km.

Area of Lakes is 81,500 square km.

Area of swamps is 70,000 square km.

Length : about 6,700 km.

Total Rainfall over the Basin is about 1600 BCM/Year.

Average annual yield of the Nile is estimated as 84BCM.

Ratio of the annual yield is 5% of the potential.

Maximum water losses in the Nile Basin occurssouth of Sudan in the swampy regions (about 42BCM is lost every year)

Main Features Of River Nile

84

Leng

th(K

m)

River Nile Characteristics

13River Nile: Longest Rivers of the World

Riv

er N

ile

84

Dra

inag

e Are

a (1

000

Km

2)River Nile Characteristics

14River Nile: 6th in basin area

Riv

er N

ile

84

84

Dis

char

ge (

MLR

D)

River Name

River Nile Characteristics

15River Nile: 24th in flow discharge

Riv

er N

ile

CONGO RIVERYIELD: Discharge = 42,000 m3/secOutflow to the Ocean = 1,300Billion m3/year

Examples of Water Abundance inthe Nile Basin: The Congo River

16

Outflow to theOcean:

The Congo River: 1,300 Billion m3

The Amazon River 6,400 Billion m3

Amazon

Atl

anti

cO

cean

Rainfall on each Riparian Countryin The Nile Basin

17

Total Amount of Rainfall over the Nile Riparian Countries=7,375 Billion m3

18

Extreme Poverty. Instability. Rapid Population Growth. Environmental Degradation Natural Disasters (Floods,

Droughts, ….etc.) Complicated hydrology of

Basin. Low Specific Yield.

Drought

Poverty

19

Floods20

Uganda – September 2007

FoodShortage

22

Drinking Water

23

Sanitation

24

BadManagementOutcomes

25

Improper Measures

26

Climate Change

27

Climate Change

28

POLITICAL INSTABILITY

29

CIVIL WARS

30

Agr. Prod. Levels in the Nile Basin EqualsAgr. Prod. Levels during the Roman Empire

Farm House in Roman Empire

Contemporary Farm House inAfrica 31

Unallocated within the Basin7,291

Inside the Basin1,661

Nile Flow at Aswan84 Outside the Basin

5,714

Total Amount ofRainfall over the Nile

Riparian Countries=7,375 Billion m3

32

Nile Basin Opportunities

33

River is least developed inupper reaches.

Potential is great. (Watersaving, Agriculture, Powerpooling, ….etc)

Great chance for win-winsolutions.

Serious steps taken forcooperation is an incentivefor donors.

Nile Basin Opportunities

Conclusions and Recommendations"Good Basin Management" is thekey for success.

High potential for development

Cooperation, creativity and goodmanagement can change history

Political will and participatoryapproach are essential for success

Water as a catalyst

34