Water Water Everywhere

WATERING THE DESERT (Chapter 6) Return to Unit List

Egypt is in an especially precarious position in North Africa — approximately 97 percent of its renewable water resources originate outside of its political borders and virtually the same percentage of Egyptians live along its most valuable water resource — the Nile River. Take a look at Figure 6.8 (page 295) in your textbook. What percent of Egypt's population is urban? What other nearby regions have lower percentages of urban populations? One such country is Egypt's neighbor to the south, Sudan; these two nations share a vital resource in the Nile River. Their populations are predominantly rural and dependent upon irrigation-based agriculture for their livelihoods. To examine the relationship between Egypt and Sudan and the Nile, we will look at disputes over the river, in a case study from the "Inventory of Conflict and Environment," web page. Read through this article and answer the following questions.

Throughout history, Egypt and Sudan have been in conflict over control of the Nile valley. Why would Egypt and Sudan vow to go to war over access to Nile River waters today?
Who was Bruckhart Waldekker and what was his claim to fame?
What are "distributaries" (hint: this is not explained in the article so you may have to look this up in another source)? What has happened to their numbers from ancient times to the present and what caused these changes?
What role did the British play in altering the Nile's natural river valley environment and how were neighboring countries and colonial powers involved?
The 1959 agreement on Nile development projects between Egypt and Sudan had numerous consequences. Discuss Ethiopia's role in the plan and how Nubians of northern Egypt were affected by the construction of the Aswan High Dam.
What was the Jonglei Canal and why was it never completed?
What is the "New Valley Canal" and why would Egypt want to build it? Do you think it will ever be constructed? Why or why not?
At the conclusion of this article, you are given a list of links for further information called "Related ICE and TED Cases." Select the link titled "Blue Nile", scroll down and look at the photo just above the heading "Description." Based on what you have learned about the Egypt and the Nile River, write a caption for this picture that you believe best describes the image in relation to the past and future of the region.

The ICE study on the conflicts over the Nile and development projects in Egypt and Sudan offers an introduction to what is clearly a very complex and contentious issue, not only within Egypt, but throughout North Africa and Southwest Asia, where less than 1 percent of the world's renewable water resources flow, but 7 percent of the world's population live. To explore further the politics of water use and development in Egypt, examine the Web page of Nabil El-Khodari, an activist seeking to stop the Northern Sinai Agricultural Development Project. The NSADP is a multi-phase project that involves diverting water from the Nile River, via the Al-Salam Canal, to a series of large-scale agricultural projects stretching across the northern Sinai Peninsula. There are a number of other sites dealing with this project that you should also explore. The following questions will guide you through the issues raised in these sites.

Khodari's page (click on NSADP)

Time magazine article that discusses Egypt’s water problems.

FAO country information page: Egypt, including information on water, land, and plant nutrition resources.

A report by Ronald Bleier (Institute for Global Communications) titled "Will Nile water go to Israel? Northern Sinai pipelines and the politics of scarcity"

As your textbook points out, agriculture is by far the thirstiest water user in the region, and agriculture "holds the seeds of a solution" to the region's impending water crisis. In what ways does the NSADP propose a solution to the water crisis? Does it offer a solution at all?
What role does the tense political relationship between Egypt and Israel play in Khodari's criticism of the NSADP? Note here how criticism of the NSADP is based not simply on environmental issues, but also on political issues of water transfer across international boundaries.
What role do the nomadic Bedouin herders play in the politics of the NSADP?
What solution to averting a water crisis in Egypt would you propose? Should Egypt scale back its agricultural production and import more food? Is better water delivery technology the answer?

For broader perspectives on water issues in North Africa and Southwest Asia, check out the following sites:

Searchable water-related database bibliography gathered by the Middle East Water Information Network

The Inter-Islamic Network on Water Resources Development and Management (INWRDAM)

Friends of the Earth, Middle East, with a section on water issues

A report by Mostafa Dolatyar of the University of Newcastle on the history of water diplomacy in the Middle East

A World Bank report, "From Scarcity to Security: Averting a Water Crisis in the Middle East and North Africa"

Turkey's Ministry of Foreign Affairs page on "Water Issues Between Turkey, Syria, and Iraq".

This last site offers Turkey's perspective on the conflict over water rights in the Tigris and Euphrates watersheds. This conflict is explicitly discussed in your textbook.
In what ways does Turkey's account of the conflict differ from your textbook's?