Where water resources in Egypt are from.

Transcription

1 Water supply and demand in Egypt: Factsheet Water supply in Egypt is a concern, the supply is restricted and the demands are increasing. The key issues here are: The source of the water: Egypt is 96.9% dependant on water generated from outside of the country. (FAO - United Nations, 2011) See figure 1. The demand for water: In 2009, the total water withdrawal per capita was 973 m³ (FAO - United Nations, 2011). This is projected to increase. The ownership of the water: The water in the Nile is bound by international treaties (between Egypt and Sudan). In addition, countries further upstream have not fully exploited the potential of the water in the Nile. Agriculture demands 86% of the total water supply, with domestic use demanding 8% of the supply and industry demanding the remaining 6%. (FAO - United Nations, 2011) Where water resources in Egypt are from. Figure 1: (FAO - United Nations, 2011) Surface water Ground water Surface water from outside of Egypt What are the pressures on water supply in Egypt? Poverty in rural areas. The reliance on agriculture in rural areas is high. Impoverished farmers turn to cheaper, high value crops, such as rice and sugar cane. These crops are more water thirsty than other varieties. Crop type. Egypt has seen a decrease in government intervention in recent years. Profit is a major motive for the decision as to which crop will be grown, rather than water demand. Population growth rates. The population growth rate was 1.96% in 2011 (Central Intelligence Agency, 2011). This increases domestic water use. In addition greater demand for food arises, which places increased strain on Egypt's agricultural production. Education and behaviour. Nearly 100% of Egypt's agricultural land is irrigated. This can be done by basic methods such as flooding the area (which leads to around 80% of the water being lost) or more advanced methods such as to high drip sprinklers. Whilst more efficient methods of irrigation are available, farmers have tended not to implement more efficient methods. Reasons vary from a lack of knowledge, lack of income or preference for older methods. Inefficiency. There is water loss in the system, in agriculture, this is through inefficient irrigation techniques. In domestic areas, breaks in pipelines means that water leaks Page 1 of 5

2 Management of the Nile. Like many large rivers, the Nile flows through different countries. These countries have suffered from poverty, overseas debt and weak governance. It has been difficult to manage the water in the past. Population growth, high rates of urbanisation and growing demands from industry and agriculture all place a strain on the water resource. International cooperation: The Nile Basin Initiative (NBI), backed by the World Bank, was formed in 1999 to try and manage the use of the water from the Nile is a more equitable way. It is an intergovernmental organisation, and the ministers responsible for water from member countries helped it to form. They share a common aim: to achieve sustainable socio-economic development through the equitable utilization of and benefit from the common Nile Basin water resources. (NBI, 2010) Polices: The political situation in Egypt restricts the effectiveness of water management. In addition, the government heavily subsidises irrigation - this leads to more wasteful practices of a scarce resource (Ahmad, 2002). Addressing the political situation and policies may lead to better management of water. Several laws exist to help reduce water demand for crops. Under Egyptian law the area where rice is grown is limited in size, with penalties for farmers who exceed this. Cropping Patterns: The variety of crop grown could be changed which demands less water. For example: sugar beet could be grown instead of sugar cane. a variety of rice which is more drought resistant could be used, or could be abandoned altogether. Changing irrigation techniques: Encourage the use of more advanced irrigation techniques, such as drip sprinklers. This is the plan in the Old Lands of the Nile valley and delta, with the government bearing half of the cost alongside the farmers. Recycling more water - both in rural and urban areas. Egypt already recycles all of the drainage water in the Upper Nile. However one effect is that the water returns more saline, and so the salinity of the Nile increases downstream. Improving the urban infrastructure: Cairo, along with other urban areas in Egypt, is using an established inefficient water pipe work. To think about: Despite agriculture demanding the most water out of all the economic sectors (agricultural, industrial and service), it does not contribute the most GNP. Therefore, what would be the impact of moving the economic base from agriculture, to the service sector, which generates more income? Page 2 of 5

3 International cooperation: The Nile Basin Initiative (NBI), backed by the World Bank, was formed in 1999 to try and manage the use of the water from the Nile is a more equitable way. It is an intergovernmental organisation, and the ministers responsible for water from member countries helped it to form. They share a common aim: to achieve sustainable socio-economic development through the equitable utilization of and benefit from the common Nile Basin water resources. (NBI, 2010) Polices: The political situation in Egypt restricts the effectiveness of water management. In addition, the government heavily subsidises irrigation - this leads to more wasteful practices of a scarce resource (Ahmad, 2002). Addressing the political situation and policies may lead to better management of water. Several laws exist to help reduce water demand for crops: Under Egyptian law the area where rice is grown is limited in size, with penalties for farmers who exceed this. Cropping Patterns: The variety of crop grown could be changed which demands less water. For example sugar beet could be grown instead of sugar cane. a variety of rice which is more drought resistant could be used, or could be abandoned altogether. Changing irrigation techniques: Encourage the use of more advanced irrigation techniques, such as drip sprinklers. This is the plan in the Old Lands of the Nile Valley and Delta, with the government bearing half of the cost alongside the farmers. Recycling more water - both in rural and urban areas. Egypt already recycles all of the drainage water in the Upper Nile. However one effect is that the water returns more saline, and so the salinity of the Nile increases downstream. Improving the urban infrastructure - Cairo, along with other urban areas in Egypt, is using an established inefficient water pipe work Page 3 of 5

4 Teacher notes: Activity 1: Doodles - pressures on water supply in Egypt. Open "Pressures on water supply in Egypt" PowerPoint The class sit in pairs, with someone in each pair facing the board and someone with their back to the board. The person facing the board has a piece of paper and pencil. On the command "go", the second slide is shown, and the person facing the board has to draw clues to help their partner guess one of the pressures on water supply. When it is correctly guessed, they move onto the next pressure. The challenge is to guess as many pressures on the water supply as possible, within the time limit. You could score points for correct guesses and loose points for cheating or passes. Summary: After the doodles activity, the students can make a copy of the second slide in their notes. They can add to each key point to explain 'why' the factor causes pressure on water supply. What are the pressures on water supply in Egypt? Poverty in rural areas. The reliance on agriculture in rural areas is high. Impoverished farmers turn to cheaper, high value crops, such as rice and sugar cane. These crops are more water thirsty than other varieties. Crop type. Egypt has seen a decrease in government intervention in recent years. Profit is a major motive for the decision as to which crop will be grown, rather than water demand. Population growth rates. The population growth rate was 1.96% in 2011 (Central Intelligence Agency, 2011). This increases domestic water use. In addition greater demand for food arises, which places increased strain on Egypt's agricultural production. Education and behaviour. Nearly 100% of Egypt's agricultural land is irrigated. This can be done by basic methods such as flooding the area (which leads to around 80% of the water being lost) or more advanced methods such as to high drip sprinklers. Whilst more efficient methods of irrigation are available, farmers have tended not to implement more efficient methods. Reasons vary from a lack of knowledge, lack of income or preference for older methods. Inefficiency. There is water loss in the system, in agriculture, this is through inefficient irrigation techniques. In domestic areas, breaks in pipelines means that water leaks. Activity 2: Ranking opinions - managing the Nile This activity encourages the students to look at the different aspects of the text. Students should read the factsheet. They then need to read the cards and put the cards in order based on what their opinion is. You could change the way the cards are ranked, for example ask students to form a triangle with the single most important card at the top, or they could form a T shape. As a teacher you can set what the students need to think about. The importance here is not only the ranking, but also the discussion which is had as a class, and also the questions students may form, which could be answered through research homework. The cards could be ranked according to what they believe to be: the least expensive, to the most expensive aspect to manage the simple, to the most complex aspect to manage the least impact, to greatest impact Page 4 of 5

5 Activity 3: "You What?" - summarising the text As a plenary you could complete this activity which uses their knowledge from the factsheet. Below are six answers to some questions. The students need to write down what they think the question is (possible student responses are in the third column). They can then develop four more answers from their notes and someone else can work out what the question could be. For teacher use: Possible questions % What is the percentage of water for which Egypt is dependent on from outside the country? 2 Egypt and Sudan Name two countries bound by international treaties regarding water use of the Nile. 3 4 Agriculture, domestic then industry Farmers have preference for older, less efficient, methods Rank the sectors in Egypt which demand water from the Nile from most to least. Why does behaviour mean there is more pressure on water supply? 5 Sugar beet Which crop demands less water - sugar cane or sugar beet? 6 It is caused because water is recycled What is causing the water to become more saline in places? Bernard DUPONT from FRANCE (Desouk Town on the Nile River) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/file%3adesouk_town_on_the_nile_river_( ).jpg Page 5 of 5