Evaluating the Economic, Social and Environmental Impacts of Building the AswanDam

Evaluating the Economic, Social and Environmental Impacts of Building the AswanDam

Introduction

At 4,132 miles, the Nile River is the largest river in the world. It

has its origins in Burundi, south of the equator, and flows northward

through Uganda and into Sudan eventually flowing through Egypt and

finally draining into the Mediterranean Sea. From Lake Victoria (its

major source) to the Mediterranean Sea the Nile's river basin has an

area of more than 1,293,049 square miles as shown on map on page 2.

The Blue Nile and the White Nile are the main tributaries which join

together at Khartoum to form the Nile. The flow of the White Nile is

fairly constant but the Blue Nileis affected by monsoon rains in the

Ethiopian Highlands when 2m of rain falls in June. This is reflected

in a huge increase in flow downstream. Egyptian agriculture has been

based on an annual cycle of flooding. The diagram below illustrates

this flow.

"In winter and spring the river was quiet; then, in summer the river

would turn from chalky - white to a red-brown and begin to rise. When

the inundation came, levees were opened to flood the fields, sending

water flowing from one basin to another, saturating the land, flushing

down salts and depositing a veneer of volcanic Ethiopian silt. This

basin irrigation supported one good crop a year."

(A modern Lake Moeris: Wadi Rayan by Gregory Baecher.)"

The River's water and the fertile soil along its banks created the

perfect setting for the evolution of the civilisations that existed in

the ancient world. Ancient peoples lived along the Nile's banks and

cultivated the art of agriculture As the Nile was ...

... middle of paper ...

...le of the River Nile 40 years ago has increasing relevance. The

full impact of this project is yet to be felt - particularly in the

ecological and political arenas. The natural world is yet to be

understood and the undertaking of any new project on this scale should

be very carefully considered

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Cross Unit Task source book

The Egyptian State Information Service

"Dams, People and Development: The Aswan High Dam Case "

Hussein Fahim

"Aswan High Dam" Britannica CD98 Multimedia Edition

"Nile River" Britannica CD 98 Multimedia Edition

"A Modern Lake Moeris: Wadi Rayan"

Gregory B. Baecher

www-ocean.tamu.edu/quarterdeck/Quarterdeck.1/Elsyed.html

Internet search

Google,yahoo,excite not (not all websites are known)

www-ocean.tamu.edu/quarterdeck/Quarterdeck.1/Elsyed.html