Panel 1:
Large Dams and their Alternatives in Egypt: A Country Perspective

Mr. A. Shalaby
Senior Under Secretary, Ministry of Public Works & Water Resources and Vice President ENCOLD
Egypt's Experience in Managing the Nile River System

This talk illustrated Egypt's experience with the management of the Nile river. The speaker presented the topography and climatology of basin that covers ten riparian countries and where rainfall varies from 2000 mm in the south to virtually nil in the north. The river flows also through the Sudd swamps where 50% of the water may be lost due to evaporation and infiltration. For millenia the river has been managed to provide water for the people of the Nile Valley. Modern development began with the Aswan dam in 1902 and now includes the Aswan High dam, completed in the 1960s.

The Aswan High Dam provides the basic storage required to irrigate 8 million feddans. Irrigation uses 80% of the water. Seasonality of flows is important, as are the interannual fluctuations in flow and this situation creates the need for storage. Aswan High Dam smooths out annual cycles in flows, and the re-regulating barrages down the river to the mouth regulate water with high efficiency, and provide the additional head for irrigation. Constant renovation and replacement increases water-use efficiency further.

Water is well managed, and plans for future develop-ment are consistent with trends and vision of good water use. Attention is also paid to awareness, participation, socio-economic and environmental implications are all key markers during planning and operation. Egyptian laws protect public opinions and rights. The presenter finished by stressing that Aswan High Dam has helped Egypt achieve objectives of sustainable development through efficient and effective water management.

Eng. Hassan Osman
Vice Chairman, General Authority for High Dam Development
Hydro Development in Egypt: Lessons from High Aswan Dam

Eng. Hassan Osman detailed the benefits of the Aswan High Dam (AHD) during its 29 years of operation to Egypt. The AHD was build in response to the growing needs of the Egyptian people for sustained flood management, water supply (for agriculture and industry) and energy generation. The AHD contributed to social and economic development of the Egyptian people, especially those living in the Aswan province, which has been transformed to a winter resort of the world.
The High Aswan Dam was constructed in two stages between 1960 and 1970.

Objectives of the dam operations are to provide in water and energy needs of the Egyptian people, protect the Nile River course, improvement of navigation, stable agricultural development and realisation of social goals. All objectives have been realised. The presentation outlined the benefits delivered over the last 29 years in control of floods and droughts. No losses have been sustained in Egypt during the high flood years of 1964, 1975, 1988, 1998 and 1999 and furthermore, the dam preserved Egyptian agriculture during years of drought in 1972 and 1979 to 1987. Other benefits outlined include 2.1 million kW of electricity generation capacity, which has successfully electrified Egypt.

Since its commissioning, the High Aswan Dam has performed within its design limits on settlement, foundation movement, horizontal displacement and observed head loss. Methods for protecting the downstream canal slopes and the overall degradation of the Nile have been implemented. On 14 Novem-ber 1981, a moderate earthquake of 5.6 on the Richter scale caused significant concern regarding the dam's stability. However, international engineers have reconfirmed the safety and integrity of the dams.
Eng. Osman concluded that the Aswan dam is one of the largest rock-filled dams worldwide and one of largest reservoirs. It has contributed to socio-economic development although it was mainly built for flood management and water supply.

Dr. Ahmed Wagdy & Dr. Mohammed Nabil
CEDARE, Centre for Environment and Development for the Arab Region and Europe
A Decision Support System for Environmental Impact Assessment for Irrigation Projects

Dr. Wagdy presented the global context for water run-off and consumption and stressed the growth in water consumption worldwide. The need to pro-mote objective decision-making on a case by case basis led to the development of new tools for assessing irrigation alternatives by CEDARE for use in Egypt. Dr. Nabil introduced CEDARE-EIADSS (Environmental Impact Assessment Decision Support System), a computer software for assessing irrigation projects that enables systematic comparisons between irrigation project alternatives based on all relevant aspects of the surrounding environment.

The model recognises that there is no absolute or unique judgement that could apply for all water management projects, instead judgement is case dependent and site specific. The possible conditions for each alternative are compiled in a multiple-choice questionnaire, and the expected positive and negative impacts are integrated to represent the initial output to the user's answers to the questionnaire. The software allows room to factor the cumulative effect of the variables.

In the end, the overall impact of the project alternatives is calculated according to the weighting given to each of the five main categories: natural resources, biological life, socio-economic, political and economic impacts. The main output of the model is an overall environmental index for each project alternative based on the selected answers and the values of the economic indicators as well as the importance weighting set by the user for each environmental impact. A tabular, graphical, and descriptive text format can be chosen as part of the final output used in decision making and comprehensive comparisons between different project alternatives.

Dr. Tarek A. Ahmed
Non-Governmental Association for Preservation of Irrigation and Drainage Networks and Environ-mental Conservation in Egypt
The Role of the Aswan High Dam in Promoting the Nile River System Management

Dr. Tarek Ahmed reiterated the fact that Egyptian farmers depend exclusively on the flow of the Nile River and in pre-AHD times had only one season of flooded agriculture. Water lifting devices were developed to introduce non-flooded agriculture along the
Nile banks

The presentation explained the growing need that developed at the time for generalising perennial irrigation at a national scale, making full use of the Nile water and protecting against extremely high as well as low floods fostered the idea of constructing a mass storage water structure. Aswan High Dam was built for that purpose.

The construction of the AHD entailed the introduction of regulated agriculture and controlled irrigation. Farmers enjoyed numerous advantages:

• guaranteed availability of irrigation water at any period for agricultural production
• agricultural expansion in million of acres of new land
• protection of high floods as well as from low floods
• generation of hydroelectric power.

Despite the recognised advantages, the project became a global symbol of environmental and social problems, such as: A change in water quality, as the maximum water release is about a quarter of the earlier flood discharge and practically silt-free. Bank and bed erosions weremonitored in the downstream reaches of the Nile, as well as in the Mediterranean coastal areas.

• Degradation of agricultural soil fertility, entailing the use of chemical fertilisers.
• Salinity and waterlogging problems due to the over-irrigation of lands.
• Propagation of schistosomiasis
• Negative effects on fisheries in the Nile system.
• Due to the recent epidemic propagation of weeds, the safety and effectiveness of irrigation and drainage networks were endangered, and a significant amount of water wasted.

Numerous problems resulted as well from mismanagement within the Egyptian agricultural system. These included water shortage at canal tail ends, lack of co-ordination among farmers, with regards to the selection of cropping patterns, and maintenance of shared irrigation and drainage services.

The diversity of problems, in addition to the national switch to management decentralisation, necessitated the establishment of an NGO to assist the government's responsibilities with regard to the promotion of farming practices. The Association for Preservation of irrigation and Drainage Networks and Environmental Conservation in Egypt (APIDNECE) was launched in November 1996. Its main objectives are to:

• Support the State in carrying out maintenance works for canals, drains and water structures.
• Prevent waterway pollution
• Contribute to the waterway preservation and environmental improvement through available and technical resources.

Dr. Ahmed concluded with some remarks on the APIDNECE. The Association uses various means to achieve its objectives, ranging from volunteer work, placing projects out on tender and providing farmers and local communities with training to undertake conservation activities themselves. The Association is supported by various organisations and individuals, government and returns on their projects. The activities of the association have many advantages - job creation, increased sense of belonging, environmental benefits, sustainable conservation activities.

Commissioners' question time

Commissioner Veltrop:
What were the predicted and proposed benefits of the Aswan dam, what have been the unforeseen problems, and what actions have been taken to ameliorate those problems?

Dr. Ahmed:
My presentation dealt with the management aspects of the dam in terms of dam safety and environmental protection. In this light, the operational system of the dam has reduced significantly the negative impact that were anticipated in the design of the dam. A recent seismic event had no impact on the structure.

Mr. Shalaby:
The foreseen negative impacts were the degradation of the river course and to some extent the seismic activity. A major unforeseen aspect is the loss of water quality of the Nile river, as flushing of the river is no longer there during the flood, and effluents, low sanitation and lack of awareness contribute to the lower water quality - but this occurred not only as a result of the AHD. The AHD plays a part in the problem because the water is compre-hensively controlled. All other consequences associated with the dam were anticipated.

Commissioner Scudder:
There are increasing concerns of dams on deltas and also relating to the encroachment of salinity from the Mediterranean Sea.

Mr. Shalaby:
With regard to the Egyptian delta, the changes in the related parameters (soil salinity, sub surface water quality and underground water) and to what extend the Mediterranean Sea were intruding in the northern part of the delta were of great concern to the Government. However, they are managing this very effectively through activities which monitor soil parameters periodically. Subsurface drains were also very well monitored and it revealed that the changes were not as a consequence of the AHD.

Commissioner Cariño:
I want more information on the decision-making model presented by Dr. Nabil. How participatory was the decision-making model?

Dr. Nabil:
The model can be used by planners and high-level decision-makers, but the model is very flexible and can also be used by non-technical people. However, it is up to the decision-maker to decide whether to or to what extent to involve the public. It will be tested in early 2000 and used by professionals.

Commissioner Patkar:
 Was there any place for consideration of the social and cultural impact of the (100,000) people on which the dam impacted (then and now) and also with regard to the archaeological impacts?

Eng. Hassan:
In regard to monuments and resettlement, monuments are dealt with very effectively in collaboration with UNESCO. Whole monuments and artifacts have been relocated. With regard to the Nubians who have been living upstream of the dam - they have been relocated to a large district downstream of the dam with similar characteristics, but new facil-ities, communities and where people are very happy. They are also experiencing an improvement of livelihood.

The Chair:
Can I request on behalf of the Commission for some documentation on the resettlement programme

Mr. Shalaby:
All impacts relating to resettlement and social impacts of the dams are available at the Secretariat of ICOLD (three volumes).

Commissioner Moore:
Can I have more information on international oppor-tunities to address transboundary issues in the Nile Basin?

Mr. Shalaby:
Egyptians have been very active in the management and surveying of the Nile since the 1820s.
Egyptian perspective was to develop and use the river in its totality i.e. as a river basin. However, this needs political will and willingness to work together. Agreements between Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia were already in place, while Egypt was also encouraging equatorial counterparts to join a co-operation operational framework for the river basin. We are supported by donors, including the World Bank and consultants to develop a co-opera tion framework between the riparian countries. I have seen the draft framework which considers some major principles - equitable share and other related principles which in coming years can lead to a co-operation framework to use the waters to serve the socio-economic goals of riparians on an
equal footing.

Summary of Panel 1

The discussions focused on the unforeseen consequences of the Aswan High Dam, such as salinisation, delta erosion, and lower water quality, and the way in which the Egyptian authorities considered that these problems had been addressed within a holistic river basin framework.

• Considering the seasonal and inter-annual fluctuations in flow, the Aswan High Dam is essential for ensuring smooth and guaranteed water supply for irrigation and municipal supply, while reducing flood events and flood damage in the valley.



• The Aswan High Dam, constructed in two stages between 1960 and 1970, has significantly contributed to the social and economic welfare of Egypt. Since its commissioning, the Aswan High Dam has performed within its design limits on settlement, foundation movement, horizontal displacement and observed head loss.



• The development of the water resources within the basin depends on co-operation in order to meet the socio-economic goals of all riparian countries.



• Choices in irrigation alternatives have implications for neighbouring areas and many criteria are used with different weightings. Decision support systems can help in comparing alternatives.



• According to the Egyptian government all the environmental and social consequences of the Aswan High Dam have been effectively managed.