Aswan High Dam Controls the Nile River Aswan High Dam Aswan High Dam Controls The Nile River Cars drive on a bridge crossing the Nile River in central Cairo, Egypt. Getty Images Europe Share By Matt Rosenberg Just north of the border between Egypt and Sudan lies the Aswan High Dam, a huge rockfill dam which captures the world's longest river , the Nile River, in the world's third largest reservoirs, Lake Nasser. The dam, known as Saad el Aali in Arabic, was completed in 1970 after ten years of work. Egypt has always depended on the water of the Nile River. The two main tributaries of the Nile River are the White Nile and the Blue Nile. The source of the White Nile are the Sobat River Bahr al-Jabal (The "Mountain Nile") and the Blue Nile begins in the Ethiopian Highlands. The two tributaries converge in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan where they form the Nile River. The Nile River has a total length of 4,160 miles (6,695 kilometers) from source to sea.

Nile Flooding Before the building of a dam at Aswan, Egypt experienced annual floods from the Nile River that deposited four million tons of nutrient-rich sediment which enabled agricultural production. continue reading below our video 10 Facts About the Titanic That You Don't Know This process began millions of years before Egyptian civilization began in the Nile River valley and continued until the first dam at Aswan was built in 1889. This dam was insufficient to hold back the water of the Nile and was subsequently raised in 1912 and 1933. In 1946, the true danger was revealed when the water in the reservoir peaked near the top of the dam. In 1952, the interim Revolutionary Council government of Egypt decided to build a High Dam at Aswan, about four miles upstream of the old dam. In 1954, Egypt requested loans from the World Bank to help pay for the cost of the dam (which eventually added up to one billion dollars). Initially, the United States agreed to loan Egypt money but then withdrew their offer for unknown reasons. Some speculate that it may have been due to Egyptian and Israeli conflict.

The United Kingdom , France, and Israel had invaded Egypt in 1956, soon after Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal to help pay for the dam. The Soviet Union offered to help and Egypt accepted. The Soviet Union's support was not unconditional, however. Along with the money, they also sent military advisers and other workers to help enhance Egyptian-Soviet ties and relations. Building of the Aswan Dam In order to build the Aswan Dam both people and artifacts had to be moved. Over 90,000 Nubians had to be relocated. Those who had been living in Egypt were moved about 28 miles (45 km) away but the Sudanese Nubians were relocated 370 miles (600 km) from their homes. The government was also forced to develop one of the largest Abu Simel temple and dig for artifacts before the future lake would drown the land of the Nubians. After years of construction (the material in the dam is the equivalent to 17 of the great pyramid at Giza), the resulting reservoir was named for the former president of Egypt, Gamal Abdel Nasser , who died in 1970.

The lake holds 137 million acre-feet of water (169 billion cubic meters). About 17 percent of the lake is in Sudan and the two countries have an agreement for distribution of the water. Aswan Dam Benefits The Aswan Dam benefits Egypt by controlling the annual floods on the Nile River and prevents the damage which used to occur along the floodplain. The Aswan High Dam provides about a half of Egypt's power supply and has improved navigation along the river by keeping the water flow consistent. There are several problems associated with the dam as well. Seepage and evaporation accounts for a loss of about 12-14% of the annual input into the reservoir. The sediments of the Nile River, as with all river and dam systems, has been filling the reservoir and thus decreasing its storage capacity. This has also resulted in problems downstream. Farmers have been forced to use about a million tons of artificial fertilizer as a substitute for the nutrients which no longer fill the flood plain. Further downstream, the Nile delta is having problems due to the lack of sediment as well since there is no additional agglomeration of sediment to keep erosion of the delta at bay so it slowly shrinks.

Even the shrimp catch in the Mediterranean Sea has decreased due to the change in water flow. Poor drainage of the newly irrigated lands has led to saturation and increased salinity. Over one half of Egypt's farmland in now rated medium to poor soils. The parasitic disease schistosomiasis has been associated with the stagnant water of the fields and the reservoir. Some studies indicate that the number of individuals affected has increased since the opening of the Aswan Dam. The Nile River and now the Aswan High Dam are Egypt's lifeline. About 95% of Egypt's population live within twelve miles from the river. Were it not for the river and its sediment, the grand civilization of ancient Egypt probably would have never existed. High Dam at Aswan, Egypt | Building the World High Dam at Aswan, Egypt High Dam at Aswan, Egypt Aerial of the High Dam at Aswan, from NASA at nasa.gov. WHY EGYPT? The legendary Nile, river of Cleopatra, has enchanted the world. The Nile has sustained Egypt for years, as it has always been a source of transport, commerce, irrigation, and inspiration. However, floods were a frequent threat, choked in turn by alternating times of drought.

Interventions in the Nile can be traced back to 1843. But the most dramatic harnessing of the mighty river went far beyond national traditions of the pyramids and pharaohs when Egypt partnered with Soviet Russia to build the High Dam at Aswan. A new word entered modern parlance: hydropolitics. HYDROPOLITICS Nikita Kruschev, from Time Magazine at time.com. Lexicons added the term “hydropolitics” since the High Dam at Aswan. There are two dams: the Low Dam built by Mohammed Ali, founder of modern Egypt, in 1843; and the High Dam built between 1960 and 1970. When the High Dam was bid on there was a long line of possible suitors. First, of course, the Egyptians, but then jointly by the British and Americans, followed by the World Bank. Having had a difficult experience during the Suez Canal’s nationalization, the World Bank demurred. Instead, the United States initially offered and then declined the project; the eventual winner of the contract was Soviet Russia.

Nikita Khrushchev was soon welcomed by Nasser; his visit marked the first Soviet general secretary to set foot in an Arab country. But even before Russia, others envied the Nile’s power. Napoleon observed, at a time when the French were occupying Egypt, “If I were to rule a country like Egypt, not a single drop of water would be allowed to flow into the Mediterranean.” (Biswas, 25; Building the World, 612). Politics on the Nile continue today. According to the Earth Policy Institute, Saudi Arabia may be tapping the Nile. Institute president Lester Brown stated: “The Saudis tapped into an aquifer far below the desert to produce irrigated wheat, making themselves self-sufficient.” But now almost all that water is gone, and Saudis are investing in farmland in Ethiopia and Sudan, but that means they will draw more Nile water for irrigation away from Egypt. HIGH AND LOW There are two dams on the Nile River at Aswan, Egypt’s southernmost city. The first site developed, in 1843 by Albanian founder of modern-day Egypt, Mohammed Ali, was a barrage (an artificial obstruction to encourage irrigation) to improve agriculture.

While the Nile is revered as a fountain of life, only 4% of Egypt’s soil was nourished by the river, leaving the rest of the country a desert. As the population of Egypt expanded, demands upon the Nile grew. From 1898 to 1902, the Egyptians and British collaborated to build what is now referred to as the Aswan Low Dam. Built with the dual purpose of irrigation and power generation, this Low Dam measures 7,000 feet (2,100 meters)long; after additional heightening in 1907-12 and again from 1929-34, it is now 125 feet (38 meters) high. In comparison, Itaipu is 55 meters high. The Low Dam has 180 sluices through which silt-laden water passes – the design proved to be a boon to the land near the riverbanks. The High Dam is located four miles (six kilometers) upstream.

Made of earth and rock fill on a core of cement and clay, the dam is 3,000 feet (about 1,000 meters) thick at the base and 130 feet (40 meters) at the top. The reservoir is one of the world’s largest with capacity of 131 million acre feet or MAF (162 billion cubic meters) of water. BENEFITS WITH CONSEQUENCES Results brought many benefits including electricity for every city, town, and village in Egypt, as well as agricultural improvements through irrigation, fewer disastrous floods, and better navigation on the Nile. But there were consequences. The portion of the Nile downstream lost much of its power, something of concern to Brazilians living near the site of Belo Monte, Itaipu’s successor. Prior to the dam’s construction, the river brought along 12 million tons of rich silt full of nutrients, but after completion, silt now collects instead behind the dam. Whereas the silt used to bring fertilizing nitrogen to the land, now nutrients must be added via lime-nitrate. Salinity is also a major problem. High Aswan Dam, from University of Michigan at umich.edu.

WHAT WOULD THE SPHINX SAY? Flooding to create a reservoir entails difficult decisions regarding relocation. Such was the case when developing the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in the United States and in China’s Three Gorges Dam. But Egypt faced a particularly difficult situation, in part due to its history. Land of the Pharaohs, pyramids, and the ancient Nubians, Egypt struggled to balance history and innovation; areas designated for flooding contained treasures. Before flooding, Egyptian museums and government agencies mounted one of the most massive relocation programs of historic objects in history. Egyptian tombs were relocated, temples, monuments and relics were excavated and moved. In the site of Abu Simbel, the cost of transferring objects mounted to over US$40 million. But even after the effort to save Egyptian treasures, many were lost in the flooding of what would become Lake Nasser. And not just objects were destroyed (or perhaps are waiting to be discovered) but 150 islands were now just 36. SALINE SOLUTION Whether Australia’s Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric , Egypt’s Aswan or Brazil and Paraguay’s Itaipú , dams eventually cause salinity.

In California, the Imperial Valley now suffers from increased salinity in its irrigated soil. In the Netherlands the same problem is seen. The Nile River also suffers. In fact, 40% of all irrigated land in the world is currently damaged by salinity. The World Bank, who did not get involved in the High Dam at Aswan, has built more dams than any other organization in history: 527 dam-construction loans totally US$58billion (in 1993 dollars). Altogether, more than 604 dams have been built in 93 countries with World Bank funding. In the late 1990’s, the Manibeli Declaration, endorsed by groups from 44 countries and many nongovernmental organizations, suggested a halt to World Bank funding of more dams until a worldwide body was established to review environmental implications. Is it time to universities and businesses in countries with significant hydroelectric salinity problems to found a global program to find a solution? Will water resources faculty at leading universities such as the University of Massachusetts Amherst Water Resources Research Center find the saline solution?

Might the work of Ellen Douglas, Allen Gontz and others at the Department of Environmental, Earth and Ocean Sciences bring to impacts of dam removal? Will discussions between Jack Wiggin of the Urban Harbors Institute and Robbin Peach of the Collaborative Institute for Oceans, Climate and Security– both at University of Massachusetts Boston – reveal important findings? ARAB SPRING-FED WATERS? According to Thomas Friedman, author of The World is Flat, and journalist for the New York Times, the Middle East may be on the edge of the cliff regarding water supply. Running out of water, Tunisia, Yemen, and Syria are in trouble. During a period of time from 2006 to 2011, Syria had terrible droughts and crop failures affecting over half the country. The United Nations confirms that 800,000 thousand people saw their livelihoods dried up. With predictions for a population boom in most Middle Eastern countries (up 132% by 2030), water will be an issue. Ditto for Asia where supply will exceed demand by 40% in 2040.

Friedman conjectures “environmental, population and climate stresses are driving the Arab Spring as much as political and economic factors.” WATER AND DIPLOMACY According to Philippe Bernard of France, diplomatic fights over shared water of rivers might need world governance. Some examples include: River Countries Rio de la Plata Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay Amou Daria Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan Tigris/Euphrates Iraq, Syria, Turkey As a city on a river (the Charles) as well as an ocean (the Atlantic), should the University of Massachusetts Boston sponsor an exploration of Bernard’s proposal, perhaps in cooperation with Le Havre? Can the UMB’s Collaborative Institute for Oceans, Climate and Security’s mission ( addressing “human security, threatened by climate-inducted changes in marine and coastal community ecosystems” be a leader of such an international forum? FRACKING Fracking is a controversial method of obtaining natural gas, from The Wall Street Journal at wsj.com. While hydroelectrics may be one of the earliest connections of water and energy, there is a new development. Water is being used to obtain resources of natural gas.

Hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as “fracking,” uses between 3 and 8 million gallons of water per day – per well, according to Alex Prud’Homme. But that’s not the worst of it. That water is mixed with chemicals including formaldehyde, xylene, benzene, among other ingredients that drilling companies brew up in sometimes proprietary ways that are not revealed before use. While there are attempts to recover the water, Prud’Homme states much wastewater from fracking goes back into the ground. Fracking is now on the American political agenda. What should be done? Document of Authorization AGREEMENT with the U.S.S.R. Concerning the Project for the Implementation of the High Dam, Approved by Decree No. 8 of January 9, 1959 (Official Gazette No. 2n). December 27, 1958 The government of the U.A.R.

and the U.S.S.R., impelled by the friendly relations which exist between them, and in their desire to strengthen economic and technical cooperation between them on a basis of equality and non-intervention in internal affairs and full respect for the dignity and national sovereignty of each of the two countries, and in view of the great importance of the High Dam project at Aswan to the national economy of the U.A.R., have agreed upon the following: 1. In answer to the desire of the Government of the U.A.R. to develop its national economy, the Government of the U.S.S.R. expresses its readiness to cooperate with the Government of the U.A.R. in constructing the first stage of the High Dam at Aswan.The first stage comprises the construction of the front part of the main dam with a height of 50 meters an a length of 600 meters, and the downstream coffer cam with a height of 27 meters and a length of 600 meters; together with work on the diversion of the waters and sluices, as well as the supply of equipment, and instruments necessary for this work.

The two parties will agree on measures in the course of study of the details, or whenever the need arises in the course of implementation….It is agreed that all the expenses which will be assumed by the Soviet side, whether for the construction of the Dam itself or for implementation of the works of irrigation and the conversion of the basis, imputed to the loan, will be covered within the limit of the loan offered, according to Article 5 of this agreement. 5. The Government of the U.S.S.R. offers the U.A.R. Government a loan of 400 million roubles (the rouble is equal to 0.222168 grammes of pure gold) to cover the cost of the operations to be carried out by the Soviet organisms for all matters relating to the execution of the projects as well as the studies and researches, the delivery of machinery, equipment and material on the basis of Soviet port prices free of charge to the U.A.R. and back. – Building the World, pages 614-622. See also Building the World, pp. 614-622.

VOICES OF THE FUTURE: Discussion and Implications Hydropolitics: A dam in Egypt built (and financed) by Russia, the High Dam at Aswan opened a new era of hydropolitics. Today, shared water resources present challenges and opportunities around the world: Middle East (Israel, Jordan, Palestine) and the Jordan River, for example. Or the Mekong river in Southeast Asia where Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam might share a vision. Can the lessons learned about ocean waters by UMB’s Collaborative Institute for Oceans, Climate and Security ( ) inform decisions about the understanding of human and environmental security implications of climate change and effects on oceans and rivers? Fracking: Water and energy are linked in other ways than hydroelectricity. Water is the means of obtaining natural gas through hydraulic fracturing. But there are environmental concerns, despite the race for energy resources. Fracking is likely to be a key issue in the decade from 2015 – 2025. What are guidelines, safeguards, and policies to be considered? RESOURCES To read the complete chapter, members of the University of Massachusetts Boston may access the e-book through Healey Library Catalog and ABC-CLIO here.

Alternatively the volumes can be accessed at WorldCat , or at Amazon for purchase. Further resources are available onsite at the University of Massachusetts Boston, Healey Library , including some of the following: Building the World Collection Finding Aid (*indicates printed in notebook series) Barringer, Felicity. “A Rare Isotope Helps Track an Ancient Water Source.” The New York Times, November 21, 2011. Bernard, Philippe. “Water,” in author correspondence dated 21 June, 2012. Available in the Healey Library Archives and Special Collections, University of Massachusetts Boston. Berns, Pam. “Priceless Water.” Chicagolife.net, Publisher’s Letter. May, 2012. Biswas, Asit K. “Aswan Dam Revisited: The Benefits of a Much Maligned Dam” D+C (Development and Cooperation), Monograph No. 6 (November/December 2002): 25-27. Also see . Fahim, Hussein M. Egyptian Nubians: Resettlement and Years of Coping. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1983. Failure, Jacob M.

The Everything Middle East Book: The Nations, Their Histories, and Their Conflicts. Avon, MA: Adams Media, 2004. Frankel, Ernst G. “Rhone-Algeria Aqueduct: Feasibility of Fresh Water Supply for Algeria and the Sahara.” Interdisciplinary Science Reviews 1998, vol. 23, no. 4, pp. 317-320 Fung, Fai, Ana Lopez, and Mark New. “Water Availability in +2C and +4C Worlds. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society (2011) 369:100. Gorlov, Alexander. “Tidal Power.” Encyclopedia of Ocean Sciences. London: Academic Press, 2001. Hourani, Albert. A History of the Arab Peoples. New York: Warner Books, 1991. Macaulay, David. Building Big. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2000. Steele, James. “The Effect of the Aswan High Dam upon Village Life in Upper Egypt.” IASTE 2nd International Conference.

“First World-Third World: Duality and Coincidence in Traditional Dwellings and Settlements.” University of California at Berkeley, CA, USA, October 1990. Whittington, Dale and Giorgio Guariso. Water Management Models in Practice: A Case Study at the Aswan High Dam. Amsterdam and New York: Elsevier Scientific Publishing, 1983. Internet For a summary of the High Dam at Aswan, including a link to an article by Sayed El-sayed and Gert L. van Kijken relating to the effects of the dam on the Mediterranean, see: . For a drawing showing both the Low Dam and High Dam, as well as detailing the cooperative efforts between Egypt and the Soviet Union, see: . For a report on the World Bank’ role in funding dams, including an analysis by the International Rivers Network, see: . For a tool kit for educators on rivers and climate change, see: The Aswan Dam - The River Nile The River Nile Bibliography The Aswan Dam The Aswan Dam was an important change for Egypt.It is an enbankment dam.

The Egyptian Government had this as a key objective in their eyes because the power to control floods which brought famine to Egypt would change their country forever and it also generates hydroelectricity. It is situated in Aswan, in Egypt. The dam was started to be built in 1960 and was opened in 1970. It is 111 metres tall and 3,830 metres long. It's Surface area is 5,250 square kilometres and it's normal elevation is 183 metres high. It's maximum water depth is 180 metres deep. It's reservoir length is 550 km whereas it's width is 35. The amount of MW it's creates per average each day is 2,100. Create a free website Aswan Dam - YouTube Aswan Dam Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. The interactive transcript could not be loaded. Loading... Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later.

Published on Nov 3, 2012 A documentary about the Aswan Dam on the Nile river in Egypt. Category Lesson 6: The Nile River - Where Does the Water Go? Where Does the Water Go? Lesson 6: The Nile River - Where Does the Water Go? Problems with the Aswan Dam The 1959 Water Agreement divided up the average annual Nile waters as shown below: Egypt 84.0 BCM (average flow 1912-1959) Naturally, when the river's flow was below the long-term average, sharing according to those specifications was impossible. The Egyptians, who are more heavily industrialized than the Sudanese, claimed that their water needs should take priority, leading to regional tensions that persist to this day. Oddly enough, the Ethiopians, in whose country the Blue Nile begins, were left out of the 1959 agreement entirely. The Nile River and the Aswan High Dam are Egypt's lifelines. About 95% of Egypt's population lives within twelve miles of the river. The dam benefits Egypt by controlling the annual floods on the Nile and prevents the damage that used to occur along the floodplain.

The Aswan High Dam provides about a half of Egypt's power supply and has improved navigation along the river by keeping the water flow consistent. Following completion of the dam there have been extensive problems, ironically caused in part because the annual flood no longer occurs. We will discuss five different issues: agriculture, changes to the Egyptian fishing industry, and erosion of the Delta. Agriculture Agriculture in the delta has traditionally benefited from the water and silt deposited by the flood (remember that the silt comes from eroding basalt lava in the Ethiopian highlands). This silt made the Nile delta one of the richest agricultural areas in the world and the basis of one of the most ancient human civilizations. Irrigation and more intensive farming, combined with inadequate drainage, has created swamps. The rise in water tables has led to accumulation of harmful salts, fertilizers, and pesticides in the upper layers of the soil. Farmers have been forced to use about a million tons of artificial fertilizer as a substitute for the nutrients that no longer fill the flood plain. Poor drainage of the newly irrigated lands has led to soil saturation and increased salinity. Over half of Egypt's farmland is now rated medium to poor in quality.

The high cost of developing drainage systems is the main problem, and Egypt lacks hard foreign investment currency. The water table has risen since the dam was built, increasing the danger of fertilizer and other agricultural waste products seeping into the river, which is the main source of drinking water for the local population. Why would the water table rise? All soil is permeable, so water will always leak out of the lake. The lake essentially forces water into the surrounding soils when it is full, and then water can flow back into the lake when it is low. Increased diseases The parasitic disease schistosomiasis has been associated with the stagnant water of the fields and the reservoir. Some studies indicate that the number of individuals affected has increased since the opening of the High Dam. Recall from the Theroux reading (National Geographic) that schistosomiasis has been present in the region for thousands of years, but the reservoir is a huge breeding ground.In some areas, the building of the Aswan dam caused an increased occurrence of schistosomiasis among the population -- from 21% to almost 100%. Similarly, the first cases of malaria in northern Africa happened after establishment of Lake Nasser.

Mosquitoes need shallow stagnant water to breed, and the lakeshore is the perfect environment. The recent identification of West Nile virus also indicates a water-bred and mosquito-borne disease that would not flourish if Lake Nasser had not been built. Human issues - Antiquities and resettlement of the Nubians In order to build the dam, both people and artifacts had to be moved. Over 90,000 (by some estimates over 120,000) Nubians had to be relocated. Those who had been living in Egypt were moved about 28 miles (45 km) away, but the Sudanese Nubians were relocated 370 miles (600 km) from their homes. The resettlement program was carried out very quickly, with severe consequences for the ~50,000 farmers who had to abandon their land. Their settlement, called New Nubia, was far from arable land. Like the northern Nile valley, agriculture in Nubia had traditionally been based on the annual flood of the rivers. The regulation of the rivers put an end to this kind of farming. In addition, arable land was submerged by the reservoir.

The people tried to farm the riverbank instead, causing increased erosion. Efforts to start a system of rotation of crops clashed with tradition and did not work out. The area they were moved to could not sustain the population, resulting in poverty and rising death. The resettlement areas were infested with the tsetse fly, and many people were exposed to sleeping sickness. Because of poor planning, about 50,000 people ended up in camps resembling refugee camps. The hygiene in these camps was very bad, and epidemics flourished. The program of resettlement made the Nubians dependent on food aid in order not to starve. Nubia is also of tremendous historic importance, as this area - located between the First and Third cataracts - was the Kingdom of Kush, founded during the Middle Kingdom about 2000 years BC (4000 years BP). The government became aware (rather late in the game) that many artifacts and antiquities would be submerged. The Great Temple of Ramses II at Abu Simbe. The Kiosk of Trajan is in the foreground, while the Temple of Isis is at the right rear.

The reservior of the first Aswan Dam flooded the complex for much of each year. Date and photographer unknown. Source: From the Collections of the Kelsey Museum - ~kelseydb/Exhibits/AncientNubia/PhotoIntro.html Ambitious rescue operations were begun in 1960, after an appeal by the Director-General of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization). Twenty monuments from the Egyptian part of Nubia and four monuments from the Sudan were dismantled, relocated and re-erected. Many others were identified during the survey, and were documented before their subsequent inundation. Special permits were issued by the Egyptian and Sudanese governments for archaeological excavations conducted by multinational teams of researchers. This statue was taken apart and moved from the Nile Valley onto the bluffs overlooking Lake Nasser in a last-minute effort by UNESCO. Source: The Temples of Abu Simbel - built over 3250 years ago by Pharaoh Ramses II - were salvaged successfully. The effort involved moving 300,000 tons of rock, cutting the temple into over 1000 blocks and moving the pieces to higher ground.

Many other sites were similarly relocated and are now preserved on the higher ground surrounding Lake Nasser. In the end, however, time ran out. It became clear that it would not be possible to document many of the sites of Lower Nubia completely, and that much of the information which careful archaeological excavation can yield would be lost forever. Changes to the Egyptian fishing industry One good aspect of the lake was to be its contribution to a new Egyptian fishing industry. However, weeds flourished in the reservoir, causing problems for the dam and the generators. Five years after the dam was built, two thousand fishermen managed to catch 3,628 tons annually, while the catch was expected to be around 20,000 tons. Ten years later the catch had dropped to 907 tons, and in 1978 the fisheries were so poor that only a small part of the population was able to live off fishing. The effect of the dam on the Mediterranean fishing industry was more dramatic. The silt and sediments normally carried by the river contain important minerals and nutrients for fisheries in the sea at the river mouth.

Unlike more fertile, nutrient-rich seas, such as the North Sea and the Arabian Sea, the Mediterranean is noted for its nutrient-poor waters that contribute to a low level of primary productivity. Primary productivity is the creation of organic matter through photosynthesis by unicellular organisms called phytoplankton. In the Mediterranean Sea, primary productivity is unusually low for several reasons. The circulation of the sea brings low-nutrient water from the North Atlantic through the Strait of Gibraltar, and allows nutrient-rich bottom water to exit the sea through the same opening. The arid climate of the region and the low levels of nutrient-rich river runoff also contribute to the low productivity of the Mediterranean. Before the High Dam was built, fifty percent of the Nile flow drained into the Mediterranean. During an average flood, the total discharge of nutrient salts was estimated to be approximately 5,500 tons of phosphate and 280,000 tons of silicate. The nutrient-rich floodwater, or Nile Stream, was ~15 kilometers wide; it extended along the Egyptian coast and was detected off the Israeli coast and sometimes off southern Turkey. The decrease in fertility of the southeastern Mediterranean waters caused by the High Dam has had a catastrophic effect on marine fisheries.

The average fish catch declined from nearly 35,000 tons in 1962 and 1963 to less than one-fourth of this catch in 1969. Hardest hit was the sardine fishery: from a total of 18,000 tons in 1962, a mere 460 and 600 tons of sardine were landed in 1968 and 1969. The shrimp fishery also took a heavy toll as the catch decreased from 8,300 tons in 1963 to 1,128 tons in 1969. In recent years there has been a noticeable increase in the sardine catch along the Egyptian coast (8,590 tons in 1992) with most of the landings coinciding with the period of maximum discharge from the coastal lakes during winter. Since the late 1980s, the total fish catch (pelagic and bottom) off the Egyptian coast has grown to levels comparable to those that existed before construction of the dam. Whether this is due to improved fishing efforts or recovery of fish stocks is not clear.

Erosion of the Delta The reduced supply of silt and sediment from the annual flood has caused heavy erosion in the Nile Delta and as far away as Israel. The erosion, coupled with normal compaction of deltaic sediments, has decreased the inhabitable land on the Delta for the first time in over 10,000 years. The lack of silt reaching the Delta has made for a different set of problems farther upriver as well. The silt now gets trapped behind the Aswan Dam, where it settles out of the water and falls in thick layers on the floor of Lake Nasser. As a result, the reservoir becomes smaller each year, and is less able to handle the water and electricity-generation needs of the nation. The Aswan Dam is hardly the only problematic example of engineering. Consider also the Kariba Dam, completed in 1959 across the Zambezi River. The purpose of the Kariba Dam was to provide electricity to the population and the industry of southern Zimbabwe, as well as to the copper mines in the north. Construction was started in 1956, financed by the largest World Bank loan ever.

The dam was built by the British colonial government where the river formed the border between Northern and Southern Rhodesia (currently Zambia and Zimbabwe). There are places in the world where dam building is not so problematical. Iceland, for example, has almost limitless hydroelectric power, and is working to dam many of the rivers in the country's interior. In this case, there are no people to resettle, and no international boundaries involved. The only "loss" is that of spectacular canyons and valleys, but there may be enough to go around. BUILDING BIG: Databank: Aswan High Dam Aswan High Dam Reservoir Capacity: 5.97 trillion cubic feet Type: Embankment Purpose: Flood control, hydroelectric power, irrigation Reservoir: Lake Nasser Materials: Rock, clay Engineer(s): planned by a team of British engineers; built by a team of Soviet engineers In the middle of the arid Egyptian desert lies one of the largest embankment dams in the world. It is called the Aswan High Dam, or Saad el Aali in Arabic, and it captures the mighty Nile River in the world's third largest reservoir, Lake Nasser.

Before the dam was built, the Nile River overflowed its banks once a year and deposited four million tons of nutrient-rich silt on the valley floor, making Egypt's otherwise dry land productive and fertile. But there were some years when the river did not rise at all, causing widespread drought and famine. In 1952, Egyptian president Gamal Abdal-Nasser pledged to control his country's annual flood with a giant new dam across the Nile River. His plan worked. Click photo for larger image. The Aswan High Dam captures floodwater during rainy seasons and releases the water during times of drought. The dam also generates enormous amounts of electric power -- more than 10 billion kilowatt-hours every year. That's enough electricity to power one million color televisions for 20 years! Unfortunately, the dam has also produced several negative side effects. In order to build the dam, 90,000 Egyptian peasants had to move. To make matters worse, the rich silt that normally fertilized the dry desert land during annual floods is now stuck at the bottom of Lake Nasser!

Farmers have been forced to use about one million tons of artificial fertilizer as a substitute for natural nutrients that once fertilized the arid floodplain. Here's how this dam stacks up against some of the biggest dams in the world. (reservoir capacity, in cubic feet) Aswan High Dam Fast Facts: About 95 percent of Egypt's population lives within 12 miles of the Nile River. Since the dam was completed in 1970, the fertility of Egypt's farmland has gradually decreased. Today, more than half of Egypt's soil is rated medium to poor. Enough rock was used in the construction of the Aswan High Dam to build 17 Great Pyramids at Giza, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Aswan High Dam, River Nile, Sudan - Water Technology The dam's reservoir improved navigation across the Nile River, enhancing tourism. Aswan High Dam, River Nile, Sudan, Egypt Aswan High Dam is a rock-fill dam located at the northern border between Egypt and Sudan. The dam is fed by the River Nile's waters, and the reservoir created by the dam forms Lake Nasser. The dam's construction began in 1960 and was completed in 1968.

It was, however, officially inaugurated in 1971. The total investment for constructing the dam reached $1bn. With a reservoir capacity of 132 cubic kilometres, the Aswan High Dam provides water for about 33,600km of irrigation land. It serves the irrigation needs of both Egypt and Sudan, controls flooding, generates power and helps in improving navigation across the Nile. Egypt and Sudan reached an agreement in 1959, as part of which about 18.5 cubic kilometres of water from the reservoir was allocated to Sudan. History of the Aswan High Dam "Institute Hydroproject of Russia, in collaboration with various engineers from Egypt, designed the Aswan High rock-fill dam." Efforts to harness water from the River Nile were first initiated with the construction of the Aswan Low Dam in 1898 under the direction of Sir William Willcocks. The dam was completed in 1902 and was raised twice during the period of 1907-1912 and 1929-1933 to further alleviate the Nile from flooding. The Aswan Low Dam was, however, not adequate to control the annual flooding of the Nile.

This gave rise to the idea of constructing a higher dam in 1952 with funding from the World Bank being sought in 1954. The US and Britain had earlier tried to fund part of the project but it did not materialise. The US withdrew the funding, followed by Britain and the World Bank. The Soviet Union finally came to the rescue of Egypt by providing the required funds for the project in 1958. Construction of Aswan High Dam finally began in 1960. Purpose and benefits of the North African project The dam was constructed with the primary aim of regulating the flow of the River Nile, which serves as a lifeline to almost the whole of Egypt. Flooding of the Nile occurs annually, with almost half of the water being drained into the sea wastefully. The dam controls floods by regulating the flow of river and supplies water for irrigation throughout the year, almost doubling the agricultural yield. The dam also improved navigation across the Nile, benefiting the tourism and fishing industries. Water from the dam is used for feeding 12 power turbines providing half of Egypt's power needs. The reservoir also helps to supply the stored water during droughts.

Details of the rock-fill dam project Aswan High Dam measures 111m in height, 3,830m in length and has a base width of 980m. The spillway has a discharge capacity of 11,000 cubic meters a second. "The dam was constructed with the aim of regulating the flow of the River Nile, which serves as a lifeline to almost all of Egypt." Comprising of rocks, cement and metals, it creates the reservoir of the dam measuring 550km in length and 35km in width. The reservoir, with its surface area of 5,250 square kilometres, elevation of 183m and depth of 185m, has a storage capacity of 132 cubic kilometres. The dam consists of 180 sluice gates to regulate the flow of water to achieve flood control. It also has 12 Francis turbines, with an installed capacity of 2,100MW to supply electricity for industrial and household use. The dam's construction required some 44 million cubic metres of building materials and a workforce of about 34,000 people.

Controversies surrounding Aswan High Dam Related project Nile River Barrage, Naga Hammadi, Egypt The barrage is of crucial importance to the development of the Nile Valley water supply infrastructure. Aswan High Dam had been controversial right from its inception. The project was hit by financial controversies before its implementation when US, Britain and the World Bank backed out from their decision of partially funding the project. It created tension between various countries and lead, in part, to the Cold War, when Egypt decided to fund the project by nationalising the Suez Canal. The project came through after the then Soviet Union funded part of the project. The dam also witnessed various oppositions due to environmental issues. The River Nile was the main source of providing silts required for irrigation along the course of the river. Issues concerning aquatic life were also raised. The dam's site also submerged certain historical sites and caused the relocation of about 100,000 inhabitants. Key players involved with the African dam Institute Hydroproject of Russia, in collaboration with various engineers from Egypt, designed the Aswan High rock-fill dam. Out of the 34,000 people involved during the construction process, 25,000 were Egyptian engineers.

The construction project involved Osman Ahmed Osman. Related content Egypt High Dam The High Dam The High Dam of Aswan is one of the most important achievements of the in the last century in Egypt, even for many years it was a symbol of the New Era of the Revolution of 1952. It provided Egypt with water and electricity and secured the country of the risk of the destructive inundation. The Aswan High Dam was a great project! In fact it was one of the most important achievements of the last century in Egypt, for many years symbolising the New Era after 1952. Today It provides Egypt with water and electricity, and secures the country from the risk of the destructive inundation of the River Nile. After the revolution of July 1952, President Nasser announced his proposal for building the High Dam, but was met with Western refusals to co-operate, so he turned to the Soviet Union for both technological and financial aid. The result was the present rock-filled structure. The work began on the 9th January 1960 and the completed dam was opened in the spring of 1971.

This gigantic building is 111m tall, 3.5Km in length and about 1Km wide! It has a Hydro-electric plant, with 6 turbines, capable of producing 2.1 million kilowatts. As a result of its construction, a great lake was formed, Lake Nasser, which is about 10 km wide in some places, and 500km long. extending between Egypt and The Sudan – the worlds largest man-made lake! This lake also has an immense fish population, which is commercially exploited. Because raising the water caused the damage, and loss, of so many of the Nubian monuments, great efforts were made by the Egyptian Government, aided by UNESCO and other countries, to save the most important monuments of Nubia. Tourists who visit this site also visit the following sites:

Question: In which country is the Aswan Dam?
Answer: Egypt