WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT IN EGYPT

Abstract

Thirst for water will become one of the most pressing resource issues of the current Century. The Egyptian water resources system is composed of many interacting components and intermingles with social, economic and environmental systems, which are also complex and uncertain. Fresh water resources include River Nile flow, precipitation and groundwater from both renewable and non-renewable aquifers. Egypt also practices the use of various types of marginal quality water, such as reuse of agricultural drainage water, reuse of treated domestic wastewater. In addition to the non-conventional water resources, desalination is being used to provide domestic water supply for some locations along the Mediterranean and the Red Sea coasts [3]. Egypt has reached a stage where the quantity of water is imposing limits on its economic development. The per capita share of water is continuously declining. The present share is below 1000 cm/capita/year (Sep. 2004), a figure that, according to international standards, is equal to the “water poverty limit” for a nation. This value might drop to 500 cm/capita/year in the year 2025, which would indicate “water scarcity”. In terms of water quality, the few data available indicate that there exists a rapid degradation in surface and groundwater quality [1]. Nile River is the main source of water in Egypt and we should pay more attention to make use of each drop, and reduces loss to the minimum as we can. In the present paper we introduce a brief study about the evaluation of the existing water resources in Egypt and also the main resources of losses and how to deal with it. Also we should give attention to other important resources of water.