President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi met with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and followed up on irrigation projects across the nation in the presence of Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Mohamed Abdel Atty on Monday.
Presidential Spokesperson Bassam Rady stated that the country’s water situation, needs, and its provision for agricultural projects and consumption were reviewed, as well as the position of a number of projects being implemented, especially projects to strengthen water facilities and the protection and development of beaches.
Abdel Atty also reviewed efforts to transform the modern irrigation system as well as the developments of the national project to line canals at the level of the republic with a total length of 20,000 km, in addition to the efforts to govern the use of groundwater, especially through the continuous updating of databases for underground wells to follow up on changes in the levels and quality of underground water.
Al-Sisi directed continuing to expand the application and dissemination of the modern irrigation system for agricultural lands across the country due to its speed of implementation and how much water it saves, which is an essential component of the state’s strategy to rationalise water consumption and raise the efficiency of irrigation management.
The president also directed to work on achieving the rational management and safe use of groundwater in Egypt in order to ensure the availability of this non-renewable water resource for future generations, as well as developing a plan to explore underground reservoirs.
Furthermore, Rady added that Abdel Atty presented the ministry’s efforts in the field of digital transformation and the digitisation of water management within the framework of Egypt’s 2030 Vision and the trend towards digital transformation in the performance of state agencies and institutions.
He also reviewed cooperation efforts with brotherly African countries in the field of irrigation, especially Nile Basin countries, as Egypt is keen on a bilateral level to provide them with technical support in this regard, especially by digging groundwater wells, developing waterways, and establishing specialised centres for weather forecasts.
In the same context, the progress made in implementing the project to link Lake Victoria with the Mediterranean was reviewed, taking into account what this project would achieve in terms of maximising the benefit of river navigation and increasing trade exchange between African countries.
Additionally, Al-Sisi directed to strengthen efforts in the implementation of cooperation projects in the field of irrigation with Nile Basin countries in a way that helps achieve economic integration among them, taking into account the multiple potentials and opportunities of basin countries, which opens up prospects for cooperation, building, and developing relations between them.
Abdel Atty also presented his ministry’s preparations for organising the fifth edition of Cairo Water Week, which will be held under the auspices of the president under the title ‘Water at the Heart of Climate Action’, within the framework of the state’s belief in the importance of the water axis in the issue of climate change, which will be reflected in Egypt’s presidency of the UN Conference of Parties on Climate Change (COP 27), which will be hosted in Sharm El-Sheikh this November.
