Egypt announces an 'urgent plan' for water security

Egypt will start implementing an “urgent plan” to develop the country’s water resources and achieve water security, the country’s Prime Minister, Mostafa Madbouli, announced today.

Speaking to the Egyptian parliament, Madbouli said that the plan will include establishing new desalination plants.

“Water security could be achieved through protecting the legitimate water rights, implementing plan to develop Egypt’s water resources, rationalising the use of irrigation water, and protecting of the country’s coasts,” Medbouli pointed out.

The government, the Prime Minister added, plans to build new water purification plants with the aim to provide potable water to all governorates across the country. “We are also planning to expand the network of the desalination plants in the country’s coastal cities to fulfil their water needs,” he noted.

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Cairo fears a possible negative impact of the currently under construction Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on its annual share of Nile water (55.5 billion cubic meters), Egypt’s main water source.

Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan have been in negotiations on the dam’s construction but they have constantly disagreed over the dam’s storage capacity. The disputable dam has been built about 20 kilometres away from Sudan’s border.

Addis Ababa says that the dam will be highly profitable, especially in the production of electricity, and will not affect neither Egypt nor Sudan water reserves.

Nevertheless, Sudan and Ethiopia agreed in May to setup joint forces which will protect Addis Ababa’s Grand Renaissance Dam.