This year marks a half-century since the start of construction—with Russian help—of one of Egypt’s greatest projects in the 20th century: the High Dam. Despite its unquestioned benefits to the land, it remains mired in controversy which only time can resolve
WATANI International
7 March 2010
Construction of the Aswan High Dam started in January 1960 and finished 11 years later. For nine years, from 1979 to 1988 the project saved Egypt from severe water shortages when Egypt consumed 70 billion cubic metres pulled from the water stored behind the dam. The dam also protected the country in years of high flood in 1975, 1988, 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001. As for electrical energy, the dam provided Egypt with 54 per cent of the total generated electricity in 1978. Such energy is the equivalent of energy produced by 53 million tons of oil. Basin irrigation was abandoned in favour of perennial irrigation, a move that enlarged the area under cultivation. Lake Nasser, a result of the water accumulated behind the dam, is one of the most important sources of fish in the country.
Yet the High Dam is frequently the target of criticism. High on the list of sins is the loss of the red volcanic silt which was carried by the annual inundation and deposited on the land. It is this silt that endowed Egypt’s land for timeless centuries with its legendary fertility, and which has to be substituted by fertilisers now that it no longer comes.
Threat of war
The World Commission on Dams (WCD) has named the Aswan High Dam the greatest construction project of the 20th century. The WCD, the most credible authority in the field, took the decision after investigating 125 projects worldwide. The High Dam was chosen because of its significance for humankind, its cost effectiveness and its importance for the region and its residents.
The significance of the dam for the very existence of Egypt raises serious questions about the consequences of a strike on the dam in the case of war.
Watani investigated the experts’ outlook on ways of operating and protecting the dam in times of crisis. William Kamel Shenouda, former deputy minister of irrigation, said that the current design allowed for storing surplus water for years to come.
A fence 111 metres high was erected 6.5 kilometres south of Aswan. “At this same location, rocks from the western and eastern mountains meet at the bottom of the river and make a U shape. The groove is full of multi-layered rock residue that prevents the leakage of water,” Dr Shenouda said. A block of compacted brick has been placed at the heart of the dam to prevent further water leakage. The dam’s size, he continued, amounted to about 42 million cubic metres.
Dr Shenouda said that, as far as safety measures are concerned, the dam was equipped with devices for checking its solidity. “Following the 1992 earthquake, US scientists were invited to examine its effects on the dam. They found no harm done since the dam’s design saved it from earthquake hazards,” he said. He disclosed that Egypt was pursuing the passing of an international law banning hostile attacks on dams. He also said the dam was designed in a way to make it capable of withstanding military strikes even if bombs were used.
Highest flood in the century
Mahmoud Abu Zeid, previous Minister of Irrigation and Water resources, told Watani that the dam was the greatest hydraulic project constructed in the states of the Nile Basin and the Middle East in the 20th century. He said the dam had played a pivotal role in saving Egyptians in years of drought and high floods. “After the termination of the first phase of the dam in 1964, it managed to control one of the highest floods in the 20th century, with 113 billion cubic metres,” Dr Abu-Zeid said. He indicated that without the existence of the dam it would have been impossible to overcome the long years of drought from 1979 to 1988. Dr Abu Zeid believes that the challenge facing the water resources ministry at present is how to manage the giant projects around Aswan, which include Toshka, Lake Nasser, groundwater reservoirs and hydroelectric energy-generating projects. The success in managing these projects, he added, would turn Egypt more efficient in terms of handling floods.