BY: TARA BILODEAU WATER CASE STUDIES: ASWAN HIGH DAM IN EGYPT

AREAS AFFECTED The Dam is situated on the Nile River where it intersects Aswan, Egypt. As the Dam provides a more reliable source of water for irrigation from the Nile River, farmers along the Nile are affected beneficially with the more ready supply of water for their crops. The green represents the areas that use irrigation from the Nile River.

AVAILABILITY OF WATER The Nile River is infamous for its irregular flood patterns which can bring immense wealth one year, and widespread starvation another. In between the flooding seasons, the Nile River is usually a steady source of water for those inhabiting its shores.

REASONS FOR THE ASWAN HIGH DAM To help control and prevent the extremes that result from the unpredictable floods of the Nile River, the Aswan Dam was built to: Provide reservoir storage for the floodwater; therefore lessening the floods Create a store of excess water; therefore reducing fear of drought caused by the floods Protect farmland (agriculture is a major source of income for the areas surrounding the Nile River)

ISSUES RESULTING FROM THE ASWAN HIGH DAM When the Dam was first opened, it caused a backup in water that flooded much of lower Nubia, causing the relocation of over 100,000 Nubians. This flood caused by the Dam also resulted in the loss of several archeological sites. Without the annual floods to wash all the excess salt left behind by evaporation, soil salinity has increased noticeably. The standing water in some of the irrigation canals running from the Dam provides a breeding ground for certain snails that carry bilharzia.

SOLUTIONS FOR THESE ISSUES New towns were constructed for the Nubians to live in after the flood destroyed their homes. The government funded a reconstruction of some of the archeological sites destroyed. Drainage systems were employed to help pull some of the salts from the soil and by 2003, more than 2 million drainage systems had been installed to prevent high soil salinity. More of an emphasis sanitation, clean-water provision, and health education has helped reduce the health effects of Bilharzia.

PICTURES One of the new settlements built for the Nubians. The statue of Ramses the Great at the Great Temple of Abu Simbel is reassembled after having been moved in 1967 to save it from being flooded