Egypt’s Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Hani Sweilam met with the agriculture, irrigation and water resources committee in the Senate on Wednesday.
Sweilam reviewed the efforts of the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation in the field of canal rehabilitation, where 6,470 km of canals have been rehabilitated, other 3,776 km are being rehabilitated, and 1,823 km are being laid out, with a total of 1,2069 km.
He also reviewed the position of the transformation of modern irrigation systems, referring to the ministry’s vision towards raising the efficiency of water use, maximising the return from the water unit, and working to increase crop productivity, explaining that the modern irrigation file in Egypt is currently being studied scientifically within the framework of an integrated system.
According to Sweilam, that system includes considering the impact on the rate of charging groundwater, quantities of agricultural drainage that enter the water system in other locations, soil salinity, etc., and setting standards, priorities, and areas for work during the coming period.
He further explained that modern irrigation is part of the integrated irrigation system, thus, its effects must be studied in all dimensions while examining the various alternatives used globally in the field of irrigation, and the possibility of using these systems in Egypt, taking into account all water, environmental, economic, social and other dimensions.
Moreover, Sweilam pointed out that 1,400 facilities were implemented to protect coasts, agricultural lands, and groundwater against torrential rains during the past years.
The ministry has also prepared atlases of torrential rains in the governorates prone to torrential rains while ensuring updating these atlases and increasing the absorptive capacity of some artificial lakes according to updated studies.
