Egypt is stepping up efforts to fulfill the country’s water needs through the development of canals and the rehabilitation of agricultural lands.
The Egyptian Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, Mohamed Abdel Aty, stated that the rehabilitation of 4,898 km canals has been completed in various Egyptian governorates. The rehabilitation of 4,091 km of canals is still in progress, according to the Minister.
Abdel Aty affirmed that the government has set the Strategic National Water Plan 2037 to manage and meet water demand, with investments of not less than $50 million.
Investments are expected to reach $100 billion to improve water quality, develop new water resources, and rationalize the use of available resources.
On Saturday, the minister reviewed with a number of officials from the ministry the national project for the rehabilitation of canals.
Abdel Aty revealed that maintaining the canals faced several challenges in the past years, including some turning into rubbish dumps where residents from nearby villages throw unwanted things.
This compelled the ministry to take some decisive steps to improve the situation. It implemented the national project for canals rehabilitation, which aims to rehabilitate 20,000 km of canals with a total cost of 80 billion Egyptian pounds by mid-2024.
According to a cabinet statement, more than 55,000 violations on the Nile River were removed in coordination with the Egyptian state bodies.
Egypt’s overall annual share of water amounts to 60 billion cubic meters, while the country needs 114 billion cubic meters per year. Thus, the annual water deficit stands at 54 billion cubic meters.
