Latest news with #MinistryofWaterResourcesandIrrigation
Daily News Egypt
28-05-2025
- Business
- Daily News Egypt
Egypt launches vocational irrigation schools, scales up Nile hyacinth recycling initiative
Egypt's Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation is advancing two ambitious initiatives designed to modernize water infrastructure and promote sustainable development: the launch of vocational schools specializing in irrigation technology and the expansion of a programme that recycles invasive Nile hyacinth into marketable products. Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Hani Sewilam chaired a meeting this week with senior officials, including Salwa Aboulala, head of the Regional Training Center for Water Resources, to assess progress on both fronts. The session focused on plans to establish a new generation of technical schools that combine academic coursework with hands-on training in areas such as modern irrigation systems, drainage, AI applications, land surveying, and pump maintenance. 'These schools will help build a highly skilled workforce capable of managing Egypt's water systems with cutting-edge technology,' Sewilam said, adding that the initiative supports the national 'Irrigation 2.0' strategy for water sector modernization. The meeting also reviewed progress in the Ministry's Nile hyacinth recycling programme, which aims to transform the fast-growing aquatic plant—long regarded as an environmental nuisance—into an economic resource. Since its inception, the initiative has held 16 training workshops across four governorates, reaching nearly 400 participants, many of them women, who have learned to produce handicrafts from harvested hyacinth. The recycling programme is part of the broader 'Sustainable Development from the Heart of the Nile' initiative, which seeks to empower women and youth through environmentally friendly microenterprises. In addition to technical training, participants receive support in marketing their products via social media and trade fairs. A permanent workshop has also been established at the training center to facilitate continuous production and skill-building. Looking ahead, the ministry is exploring the commercial potential of converting dried hyacinth into biofuel, charcoal, and particleboard—creating new job and investment opportunities while reducing waste and ecological impact. Sewilam emphasized the importance of partnering with international donors and private investors to expand the project's reach. He also called for closer collaboration with the Ministry of Manpower to connect programme graduates with green job opportunities and to develop domestic and export markets for hyacinth-based goods. 'These efforts not only address environmental challenges but also support the green economy, foster social inclusion, and enhance climate resilience,' he said.
Egypt Independent
20-05-2025
- Science
- Egypt Independent
GERD delay poses imminent threat to Egypt and Sudan, Egyptian expert warns
An Egyptian professor of water resources, Abbas Sharaqi, revealed that Ethiopia has suffered a delay in opening the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam's (GERD) spillway gates, despite facing technical challenges with turbine operation and a deficient electricity transmission network. This delay has sparked serious concerns in Egypt and Sudan regarding water management as the rainy season approaches. Experts fear it could lead to the waste of enormous quantities of water without any tangible benefit – particularly critical for Egypt, which relies on the Nile River for 95 percent of its water needs. The Egyptian geological expert confirmed that satellite imagery indicates a slight decrease of four billion cubic meters in the GERD's reservoir since September 5, 2024. The lake's water level has dropped by approximately two meters, reaching 636 meters above sea level, with a total storage of 56 billion cubic meters. In a post on his official Facebook account, the expert attributed the delay to technical problems with either the installation or operation of the turbines, coupled with an unprepared electricity transmission network. These issues are hindering the planned utilization of the dam's hydroelectric power. 'Ethiopia hopes it can operate the turbines, but it's ignoring the necessity of mandatory discharge as the rainy season approaches. This is wasting water that they fought diplomatic battles with Egypt and Sudan over for five years to store,' he said. Sharaqi noted that light rainfall has begun in the Blue Nile basin since early May, with daily inflow exceeding 20 million cubic meters at the GERD. He anticipates this rate will increase to 60 million cubic meters per day within two weeks, with initial forecasts suggesting rainfall will be around average or slightly higher. Continued delays could lead to a sudden discharge of massive quantities up to 20 billion cubic meters, before the flood season in June, he warned. This would necessitate precise coordination with Sudan and Egypt to avoid widespread flooding or damage to infrastructure. The GERD, which Ethiopia began constructing on the Blue Nile in 2011, is Africa's largest hydropower project. Once completed, it aims to produce 6,450 megawatts (MW) of electricity, providing power to approximately 60 percent of Ethiopia's population who currently lack it, and exporting energy to neighboring countries like Sudan and Djibouti. However, the dam has ignited a protracted dispute with Egypt and Sudan, primarily due to concerns over potential reductions in their vital Nile water shares. Egypt, in particular, relies on the Nile for an overwhelming 97 percent of its water needs and is already experiencing water scarcity, with an average consumption of 556 cubic meters per capita annually by 2025, according to the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation. Ethiopia maintains the dam will not diminish water flows to downstream nations. Instead, it asserts that the GERD will stabilize flows by reducing evaporation, especially compared to Lake Nasser. Despite these assurances, the lack of a binding agreement on the dam's operation continues to fuel tensions. In 2015, the three nations signed a Declaration of Principles intended to promote cooperation, yet it crucially lacked enforceable mechanisms. Ethiopia announced the final filling of the dam in 2023, a move met with strong Egyptian protests that labeled the action 'unlawful.' Estimates suggest the GERD could reduce Nile flows to Egypt by two percent under normal conditions, but this figure could escalate significantly during droughts, potentially imperiling 200,000 acres of agricultural land.
Daily News Egypt
06-05-2025
- Business
- Daily News Egypt
Egypt, Jordan explore joint projects in water, food, and energy sectors
On the sidelines of the seventh Arab Water Week in Amman, Egypt's Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, Hani Sewilam, met with Prince El Hassan bin Talal of Jordan to discuss enhanced bilateral cooperation in the water and natural resources sectors. The meeting was also attended by Egypt's Ambassador to Jordan, Mohamed Samir, and Marwan Al-Raggad, President of the Islamic Network on Water Resources Development and Management. Talks centered on strengthening collaboration between Egypt's Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation and Jordan's Ministry of Water and Irrigation, with a particular focus on joint initiatives under the 'Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystems Nexus' (WEFE NEXUS) framework. Opportunities for cooperation through the Islamic Network on Water Resources Development and Management were also discussed. Minister Sewilam highlighted the critical role of desalination in enabling large-scale food production, noting that its viability depends on significantly lowering energy costs. He announced that Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia are currently preparing a regional initiative to exchange expertise in desalination technologies to support sustainable agricultural expansion. The discussion also covered Egypt's flagship agricultural wastewater treatment projects—including the New Delta, Bahr El-Baqar, and Al-Mahsama plants—which are expected to contribute around 5 billion cubic meters of treated water annually by 2026. Both sides explored possibilities for knowledge exchange in wastewater reuse and treatment. Additionally, the two parties emphasized the importance of subsurface drainage systems, which have proven to improve crop yield and quality. They also stressed the need for joint scientific research on developing salt- and drought-tolerant crop varieties as part of a wider climate adaptation strategy. The conversation highlighted the urgency of implementing tangible projects to adapt to climate change, referencing Egypt's ongoing coastal protection efforts along the Mediterranean as a model. Participants called on industrialized countries—responsible for the bulk of global greenhouse gas emissions—to provide climate financing to Arab countries in the form of grants rather than loans, acknowledging the region's minimal contribution to global emissions. The meeting concluded with a shared call to deepen Arab cooperation through knowledge-sharing, the dissemination of climate adaptation success stories, and the wider adoption of nature-based solutions in future water infrastructure projects.
CairoScene
07-04-2025
- General
- CairoScene
New Report Finds 78,000 Nile River Encroachments Since 2015
The current enforcement effort, known as Wave 25, resulted in the removal of 238 encroachments. Apr 07, 2025 The Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation has reported a total of 78,000 cases of encroachment on the Nile River since 2015, according to a new update submitted to Minister Hani Sweilem. The report comes as part of the ongoing ';Campaign to Save the Nile', a national initiative aimed at curbing illegal construction and land reclamation along the river and its branches. The current enforcement effort, known as Wave 25, resulted in the removal of 238 encroachments covering a combined area of 46,000 square metres. These removals were carried out across several governorates, including 29 cases in Assiut, 27 in Menoufia, 24 in Daqahlia, and 22 each in Gharbia and Beheira. Additional violations were addressed in Luxor, Sohag, Beni Suef, and other regions, with cleared areas ranging from a few hundred square metres to several thousand. The campaign is being implemented in coordination with the Ministry of Interior and local authorities. It involves continuous monitoring of the river to identify new violations early. Minister Sweilem has directed Nile protection departments to conduct legal and technical assessments of all reported cases before taking further action. Given Egypt's dependence on the Nile for drinking water, agriculture, and transport, the government has treated the issue of encroachment as a national priority. Since the campaign began in 2015, it has operated in waves, removing unauthorised structures and restoring riverbanks across the country in an effort to preserve the river's natural flow and ecological balance.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Dwindling body of water makes stunning comeback: 'The result of two years of systematic work'
A conservation project to revitalize the North Aral Sea in Kazakhstan has delivered encouraging returns, with the lake now nearly twice the size it was in 2008. According to the Astana Times, Kazakhstan's Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation announced in January that its efforts, in coordination with the World Bank, increased the body of water's volume by 42%. As a result, the North Aral Sea now contains 27 billion cubic meters of water, and its salinity has dropped by a factor of four. Additionally, the plan has helped local fisheries up their annual catch total to 8,000 tons, which pales in comparison to peak levels but is still a positive development. "These figures are the result of two years of systematic work. We have reached mutual understanding with neighboring countries on the protection and equitable sharing of water resources in transboundary rivers," Nurzhan Nurzhigitov, the department's minister, said during a public meeting in the Aral district of the Kyzylorda Region. Improved water management of the Syr Darya River allowed authorities to fill the North Aral Sea with 2.6 billion cubic meters of water last year. Deutsche Welle also noted that conservationists are planting native black saxaul trees in the area to combat desertification and improve climate resilience. The Aral Sea was once the fourth-largest lake in the world at around 68,000 square kilometers, per the U.S. Geological Services. However, it split into two and is now just a 10th of the size it was in 1960 after the Soviet government diverted the rivers that feed into the sea to irrigate the arid region surrounding it. This led to what the U.S. Embassy & Consulate in Kazakhstan called "one of the worst ecological catastrophes in human history." The Aral Sea's heightened salinity rendered the water undrinkable and killed off several commercial fish species, impacting the lake's biodiversity and economic productivity. Dust from the exposed seabed has also caused numerous health issues, such as respiratory illness and cancer. That's what makes continued commitments to improve the North Aral Sea and others like it, including Michigan's Great Lakes and Bolivia's Lake Uru Uru, all the more crucial. Many lakes and other aquatic habitats are disappearing because of Earth's overheating and anthropogenic activities. "We will continue negotiating and making every effort to maintain a stable level of important reservoirs. The Aral Sea restoration project aims, first of all, to improve the environmental situation in the region, develop fisheries and tourism, and improve the well-being of the population," Nurzhigitov added. How often do you worry about the quality of your drinking water? Never Sometimes Often Always Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
