Background

More People, More Development

Tapping the NSAS for more

Threats to the NSAS are now escalating. In each country, the demand for water is increasing as human populations rise. Given the scarcity of surface water resources for all four NSAS countries, groundwater has been identified as the biggest future source of water to meet growing demands. Each of the four countries has given top priority to linking NSAS groundwater development to broader national development goals.

Egypt and population re-distribution

After 1975, it became clear that water supply from the Nile was increasingly unable to meet the demands of Egypt’s expanding urban populations. The government response called for creating new cities in desert areas to make living space for over 20% of the country’s population. Given that groundwater was found to be the only primary source of water outside the reach of the Nile in the Egyptian desert, its role gained increasing emphasis in national water policy-making. Soon, Egypt’s Western Desert became a key target area for population re-distribution and regional development.

Libya’s great man-made river

Since 1970, revenues from domestic oil exploration and abstraction projects helped the Libyan government to invest in water investigations. One result was the discovery of three huge freshwater reservoirs in the Sahara Desert. Given that most of the country’s fertile lands and human populations are found along the Mediterranean coast, Libya decided to increase NSAS exploitation through its ‘Great Man-Made River Project’, today the world’s largest groundwater ‘conveyance’ scheme. The Project will eventually convey over six million cu m of water per day from the Sahara Desert to coastal population centres including the capital Tripoli.

Pressures in Sudan

The Nile River system is a major source of water for the country. It, as in Egypt, has also become a strained water resource, especially in light of the country’s growing human populations and migrations of younger generations from rural to urban areas. Development policy has therefore called on increased exploitation of the NSAS as an alternative, in part for increased wheat production in the north.

Chad

Information about the NSAS in Chad is limited. What is known is that surface areas are sparsely populated by people living mainly in small communities and nomadic groups. Droughts are common. Human pressures include rising populations, pollution and population migration flows passing from Africa to the Mediterranean.