Evening star., 1933-08-21
EGYPTIANS TO DAM
LAKE IN M|D-AF RIGA
Water Sought for irrigation
Must Travel 1000 Miles
From Source.

CAIRO. Egypt (SpeciaD 1t may be
stated authoritatively that the govern
ment of Egypt has decided upon the
damming of Lake Albert, in Central
Africa to increase the supply OF stored
water for the future irrigation OF Egypt.
The dam will have the effect of turn
ing the lake into a vast reservoir, which
will hold $4,000 900 600 cubic meters OF
water available for irrigation. However,
the average outflow of Lake Albert
along the Albert Nile is about 19,000,-
100000 cubic meters of water each
wear, and this is the amount that in
future will be discharged year by year,
but not evenly throughout the year; as
much of the water as is possible will be
released from the Lake Albert reservoir
during that period of the year when
Egypt is short of water, and when any
water that reaches Egypt can be used
upon the land.
Water to Travel Far.
The water thus stored in Lake Albert
must flow more than 1000 miles to
Egypt and be conducted either through
or around the almost 400 miles of vast
sWampS through which the White Nile
flows after entering the Sudan plains
The work so far performed has con-
SISl0Q III Il SGlCLIIIilS SIUOy Va tllC lily
drology of the Nile. 1t began with the
introduction of current meters by Sir
Henry Lyons in 1902, and it is far
from being completed. But it has pro-
greSsed sufficiently to enable a state
ment of the Lake Albert irrigation
project to be made. incidentally, it may
be said that at the present time there
is no other large river in the world
upon which such an extensive and &C
curate system of measurement of dis
charges is carried out as upon the Nile.
In 1928 the ministry of public works
OF Egypt sent a mission up to the
Nile to the great lakes in Central Africa
to draw up a program for investiga-
tionS in connection with possible irri-
CATION projects in this region This
was followed by two missions to the
lake plateau in 1924 and 1926, and to
the Bahr el Ghazel (Gazelle River) in
1880 and 1881. In the 1890 expedi-
ton, the While Nile and its tributaries
were seen from the air and the value
OF aerial reconnaissance in the study of
hydrolCgy was established
Swamps Consume Water.
During recent years the irrigation
service OF Egypt has mapped a good
deal Of country to the east of the Bahr
el Zeraf Giraffe River) and from the
Bahr el Gebel (Mountain River via
the Vevano River to the Pibor River
in connection with projects to train
the Nile around the swamp region and
thus prevent the loss of water to be
released from Lake Albert
As all water beyond a certain fixed
limit-that is, all water in excess of
400 cubic meters per Second,-coming
down the White Nile from the water
shed in Central Africa is lost in these
sWamps. the White Nile must either
be dredged to deeper channel deliver
ing more water and new artificial banks
must be created so that the surplus
will not escape, or the alternative gi-
gantic problems of digging canals and
improving existing river beds that run
parallel to the Nile and combining
them in a new channel to conduct the
flow around the sWampS must be under
taken.
More Research Needed.
Which of the various alternatives will
be most practicable and less expensive
can only be determined by further re-
search. The actual building of the dam
at Lake Albert is not likely to cost more
than eight or nine million dollars.
But to solve the problem caused by
the escape of the Nile flow into the
morasses may require the excavation
of 100 100000 to 800 10000 cubic me-
ters OF earth. 1t may bring the esti-
mated total cost of the Lake Albert
project up to from s12O0o0.O00 to $780,
100000
1t may take from 25 to so years to
complete The cost must be borne
jointly by the land owners and govern
ment and distributed over long period
of time The result Of this and the
other projects undertaken by the gov
eminent is expected to more than dou-
BILE the amount of land under perennial
cultivation in Egypt to more than 49,
100000 acres.