Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Mohamed Abdel Aati said great challenges are facing Egypt’s water sector, topped by the limited water resources and population growth in addition to the climate change negative impacts.

In a meeting with Matthew Parks, a US government water expert, and Nicole Champagne, the deputy ambassador of the US to Egypt, along with representatives of the US embassy here, the minister said Egypt’s water needs hit about 114 billion cubic meters per year with deficit estimated at about 54 billion cubic meters annually.

Such a gap is sought to be closed through reusing water and importing agricultural crops equivalent to about 34 billion cubic meters annually, the minister explained.

He said his ministry is implementing many mega projects to boost the water system’s capability of dealing with these challenges in a flexible and sufficient manner.

In this regard, he pointed out to the canal rehabilitation projects, shifting to modern irrigation, establishing tertiary water treatment plants with a capacity hitting 15 million cubic meters per day.

Abdel Aati reviewed the navigation line project linking between Lake Victoria and Mediterranean Sea which will include a highway, a railway and an electrical linkage system to help achieve comprehensive development in the Nile Basin states.

Meanwhile, the US officials expressed their interest in this project which they said is one of the most important promising projects in the region that would help push forward development in all participating countries.

Source: State Information Service Egypt