Are Egypt's new water discoveries just a distraction?

Author: Rami GalalPosted February 19, 2016

It seems every time Egypt finds itself in a critical position in the Grand Ethiopian
Renaissance Dam negotiations, it rushes to announce the discovery of some new groundwater
reserve.

Summary Print Egypt keeps stacking its stories up higher as its water woes deepen.
AuthorRami GalalPosted February 19, 2016
TranslatorSahar Ghoussoub

That happened in 2012 against the backdrop of the failed settlement with Ethiopia under
then-Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi. At that time, the Egyptian Ministry of Water
Resources and Irrigation announced the discovery of an underground basin in the Qattara
Depression enough water to support the cultivation of 260,000 acres of land. However, the
details of the discovery still haven't been disclosed.

Last month, Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Hossam Maghazi announced the
discovery of an underground basin in the Minya governorate, which he claimed covered the
equivalent of 85% of Egypt's area. This "disclosure" embarrassed the Egyptian government
after reports emerged that the ministry was actually talking about the already discovered and
well-known Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System stretching from Egypt to Sudan, Libya and
Chad.

The news made the rounds on social media with statements from the public deriding the
ministry and statements from water experts denouncing the governments misleading of the
public.

The ministry issued a statement 48 hours later confirming the miscommunication and said
that what had actually been discovered was the main source feeding the underground basin.
The statement added that drilling showed the surface reservoir and the Nubian aquifer are
linked, which confirms accurate studies had been carried out, especially with regard to the
available underground water.

According to local media reports Jan. 18, Maghazi said a well has been established in the
aquifer area, and the underground water rises to the surface from a depth of more than half a
mile.

This is proof of a massively deep reservoir, which is likely to become a promising source for
the West Minya area, Maghazi said. He noted that a new drilling device, which the ministry
procured for 1.5 million Egyptian pounds ($192,000), had been used for the first time. The
device reveals the depth and quality of water and the reservoir's size without the need for
exploration work.

Haytham Awad, head of Alexandria University's irrigation and hydraulics department in the
engineering faculty, told Al-Monitor that underground water quantities in Egypt are known
and were officially and publicly estimated years ago. The underground water sources do not
exceed 132 trillion gallons all over Egypt and they are mostly nonrenewable aquifers. A lot
of areas in Egypt suffer from the deterioration of groundwater, he said.

Awad added that the ministrys statement about the massive groundwater discovery is not
scientifically proven.

This was a technical discovery, and there was no need to [raise] the issue at the level of the
public opinion, especially since this does not help Egypt in its negotiations with Ethiopia
regarding [Egypt's] share of the Renaissance Dam from the Nile, he added.

Nader Noureddine, a professor of water resources and irrigation in Cairo University's

agriculture faculty, told Al-Monitor that the water minister wanted to shift public attention
from his failed Renaissance Dam negotiations and distract it with hopes of new water sources
in Egypt.

The ministrys announcement came after Ethiopia refused to delay dam construction until
impact studies are completed and rejected Egypts proposal to increase the number of dam
gates to allow Egypts share of water to pass through.

Noureddine said, Addis Ababa [Ethiopia's capital] has actually started the experimental
storing of water behind the dam walls with more than 3 billion cubic meters [792 billion
gallons] so far, which was announced in the local media. It will start generating energy and
actual operation in June, while the Egyptian minister is still running from the truth in front of
the Egyptian public, [trying] to distract people by misleading them.

He added that statements made by the Ethiopian foreign minister clearly show Ethiopia will
not commit to changing its plans. He believes Ethiopia will not make any concessions to
Egypt, especially regarding its share of the Nile water. The plan to fill the dam is part of the
construction plan and is not related to any agreements with Egypt. This does not bode well
for Egypt, as Ethiopia will be using the Nile water based on its needs and not on the agreed
shares of water.

Noureddine also disputed the claims by some water ministry officials that a new drilling
device was procured, as the ministry does not own any excavation company. A Chinese
drilling company was in charge of excavation at the discovery site, and the companys
official was standing next to the minister during the fake announcement of the new
underground basin, according to Noureddine.