Case Study of Strategy to Increase Water Supply: Aswan High Dam

Question 1

Where is the Aswan Dam?

Answer 1

4km across the River Nile, Aswan, Southern Egypt.

Question 2

Why was the dam constructed?

Answer 2

• Increased economic growth

- Regulate Nile’s annual river flow

Question 3

What are the positive socio-economic impacts of the dam’s construction?

Answer 3

• Creation of farmland as stored water used for irrigation
• Use of Lake Nesser for fishing (25,000 tonnes of fish per year)
• Electricity generation (1/2 of the country’s electricity in 1980s)

Question 4

What are the negative socio-economic impacts of the dam’s construction?

Answer 4

• Lake Nasser flooded Lower Nubia (100,000 Nubian people resettled)
• Loss of annual flood deposited sediment > farmers need to use expensive fertilisers

Question 5

What are some environmental impacts of the dam?

Answer 5

1. Decreased sediment downstream > further coastal erosion
2. Decreased nutrients downstream > marine productivity in Mediterranean decreased
3. Increased salinity of the Mediterranean sea > affects species in the sea
4. Reservoirs sedimentation lowers Lake Nasser’s storage capacity
5. Overall agriculture increase as constant water supply allows for multiple cropping