Water Provision Recommendation - Coursework Example

WATER PROVISION RECOMMENDATION REPORT By Contents Introduction…………………………………………………………………….………………..3 Background……………………………………………………………………………….……..3 Presentation of options………………………………………………………………….……….4 Requirements…………………………………………………………………….….…………..4 Comparison/evaluation of options……………………………………………………..………..5 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………6 Recommendations………………………………………………………………………..…….6 References………………………………………………………………………………………7 Water Provision Recommendation Report 1. Introduction Water is the most important necessity in the life of an individual. As such, it is imperative that every country strives to ensure it has enough water supplies to meet the needs of its people. Egypt is one country that faces a huge shortfall of water to meet its domestic and industrial demand for fresh water. Currently, River Nile is the largest source of fresh water that the country depends on for supplies in domestic use, agricultural purposes, industrial use, and for irrigation. However, this is not enough to meet the country’s demands for water, and as such, it has to explore more options to get fresh water, such as desalinization of sea water by removing salt from it, underground water supplies, reusing treated waste water, as well as, recycling of agricultural drainage and irrigation water. The aim of this report is to compare the two leading sources of fresh water supply in Egypt, which are dams and underground water (Bhatia 2008, p.342). 2. Background Egypt always had water shortage problems because it is an arid region. The vast areas of land in Egypt are part of the largest desert in the world, the Sahara Desert. In addition, the climate of Egypt is the hot desert climate whereby it experiences little or no rainfall for a long period. Evaporation of water is also very high and threatening the little reserves of water in the country because of the high atmospheric temperatures experienced within these regions. The population of the country that is ever increasing also creates more tension on the minimal water reserves of the country. The regional average per capital water availability in Egypt was 2385m3/year in 1995, but faced a sharp decline to 1046m3/year in 2000. Analysts forecast this decline to continue until the water provision reaches 676m3/year by 2025 (Lianos, et. al., 2002, p.876). These lacks of adequate water supplies in Egypt causes a lot of social tension and unrest in the country, as well as, deny its industrial markets to expand and grow the economy due to the unavailability of adequate water reserves in the country for use. In fact, for years, the country suffered international conflicts with neighboring countries over the ownership of River Nile and its water. 3. Presentation of the options However, the country has various water sources in which it can exploit and provide its people and industries with the necessary fresh water to carry out their day-to-day activities. As mentioned earlier, River Nile is the largest source of fresh water in the country, with Aswan dam being the largest dam in the country. This dam provides water for households and industries for use in their various needs, as well as, provides farmers with water to use for irrigation and other agricultural activities. The country also discovered that it has huge deposits of underground water. Geologists claim that the underground water reserves that the country has are enough to reclaim approximately 3.7 million acres of land and put them in sustainable agricultural activities. Furthermore, these reserves of underground water can also be enough to support the households and other industrial users of water in the country, by drilling wells and boreholes to tap this precious resource from the ground. 4. Requirements The provision of water from both dams and underground sources has a variety of impacts on the society, the country, as well as, the economy. For instance, it is very costly to construct a dam. This is because construction of a dam requires a lot of monetary resources and skilled professionals to set up such a structure. In addition, creating a dam takes a long time, at least more than a year, which might be too long for the residents to bear with the scarcity of water currently experienced in the country. On the other hand, creating a dam arouses public strife, especially with neighboring countries. This is considering the conflicts that the country always has with Sudan and Ethiopia over the ownership of river Nile, the largest river in Africa. Underground water is a safe source of water for the country, especially for agricultural activities. However, it creates a row in the social circles as many households shun it because it is “dead water”. By dead, they mean that the water has an inlet but does not have an outlet even if it is fresh (Saxena & Sharma 2004, p.187). 5. Comparison/evaluation of options In comparison, dam water and underground water have equal impacts on the Egyptian populations. The cost of building a dam is very expensive, takes a long time, and occupies a large piece of land. In addition, constructing a dam across an international river like the Nile causes international strife and conflicts. However, the benefits of creating a dam are phenomenal, and as such, far outweigh the costs of its creation. A dam provides enough water supplies for both households and industries. It also provides water for irrigation and other agricultural activities, as well as, creating an ample lake for fishing activities. Hydro electricity generation can also take place at these dams, which has little or no impact on the environment around the river (Altinbilek, Biswas & Tortajada 2012, p.336). On the other hand, the underground water is also costly to extract, especially considering how many boreholes and wells the government has to drill in order to secure enough water supplies for the entire country. As such, underground water is not adequate for industrial use due to its minimal amounts found in a single well. The social impact of this underground water is their lack of acceptance by the public for household use for being dead water. There is no environmental impact when it comes to using underground water for either households, or agricultural purposes. 6. Conclusion In conclusion, the country has both options of underground water and dams to pursue in securing water supply in the country. This also includes having enough water for the industries, the households, and the agricultural farms. However, in exploiting these reserves of water within the country, it is necessary to consider the impact of each source of water to the people, the country and the economy. In evaluation of these impacts, it is necessary to consider aspects such as the costs constraints involved, the environmental impacts involved, as well as, the social and public impact that they cause. As explored above, both the dams and the underground water supply options have their own effect on these facts. The dam is the most preferable means of water provision in the country, especially considering that it has the largest river in the continent snaking its way through its land, and as such, assured of constant water supply throughout the year (Tedd 2000, p.414). 7. Recommendations It is recommended that Egypt seek to expand its water sources from the dams options because it is the most assured and secure source of water supply for the whole country. In fact, the supply of water from the dams requires a onetime investment, unlike that of underground water, which requires drilling of numerous boreholes, and wells in various parts of the country. By building more dams, the country will be able to expand its water supply from the river Nile, and as such, have a guarantee of adequate water supply for its households, industries and agricultural firms. This will only leave out the other options of water provision as supplementary and not core, whereby the cost constraints will the manageable. References Altinbilek, D., Biswas, A. & Tortajada, C., 2012, Impacts of Large Dams: A Global Assessment, Springer, New York. Bhatia, R., 2008, Indirect Economic Impacts of Dams: Case Studies from India, Egypt, and Brazil, Academic Foundation, New York. Lianos, et. al., 2002, Dam Maintenance and Rehabilitation: Proceedings of the International Congress on Conservation and Rehabilitation of Dams, Madrid, 11-13 November 2002, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida. Saxena, K. & Sharma, V., 2004, Dams: Incidents and Accidents, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida. Tedd, P., 2000, Dams 2000: Proceedings of the Biennial Conference of the BDS Held at the University of Bath on 14-17 June 2000, Thomas Telford, London. Read More