Technical Report

Sponsor:

Start Date: 1999-04-01; Completion Date: 1999-12-31;

Keywords: Climate and Hydrologic processes, Management and Planning, Hydrology

Problem and Research Objectives:

The Nile basin has an area of 3.1 million km2 and is spread over 10 countries. The discharge per unit area is small; in fact, almost all the Nile water is generated on an area covering only 20 percent of the area is small; in fact, almost all the Nile water is generated on an area covering only 20 percent of the basin, while the remainder of the basin is in arid or semi-arid regions where water supply is minimal and where evaporation and seepage losses are large. A number of Nile basin countries (e.g. Egypt and Sudan) are almost completely dependent on the Nile Basin for their water resources. A treshold figure of 1000 M3 of water availability per inhabitant per year is sometimes used to flag attention to a condition of water scarcity (FAO, 1993). Most Nilotic countries are close to water stress, if not already stressed for water. Water availability per capita decreases with increasing population. While the world's population currently increases by 1.5 percent annually, most Nile Basin countries grow twice that fast. As a result, the basin population doubles every 30 years. Thus the current population of 260-270 million people will exceed 600 million by 2025. The economies of most Nile Basin countries are heavily dependent on agriculture which accounts for more than half of the Gross Domestic Products and employs 80% of the work force. However, the lack of water supply infrastructure, the variability of the climate, and poor cultivation practices may seriously restrain economic growth when overall water demand increases, which is right now the most likely scenario. Based on the above, severe water stress conditions appear all too likely in the years to come, and the Nile Basin will have to be managed in a more comprehensive and integrated way than at present to deal with the anticipated water shortages. The aim of this project is to investigate the impact of higher demands on the Nile water resources. The project will also assess the ability of a series of potential water conservation and regulation projects to mitigate water stress conditions.