This Guardian column outlines the challenge faced by Egypt as the stress on its water supply increases:
Egypt faces a growing water crisis, which, by 2025, could become extreme, according to the UN.
Image credit: Haitham Alfalah on Wikimedia Commons.
“Egypt, once celebrated as the “gift of the Nile”, is in the grips of a serious water crisis. With a rising population and a fixed supply, the country has less water per person each year.
The country’s annual water supply dropped to an average of 660 cubic metres a person in 2013, down from over 2,500 cubic metres in 1947, according to official figures. Egypt is already below the United Nations’ water poverty threshold, and by 2025 the UN predicts it will be approaching a state of “absolute water crisis”.
(Break)
In June, the Delta city of Bilqas, with a population of 50,000, was suffering from a severe drought. “We can’t find water to drink, wash, clean or anything. We woke up to find we have moved to the desert and our taps are dry,” said Hossam Megahed, a city resident.
The same week, the city of Fayoum suffered a water cut so severe that even hospitals found themselves dry. A few days later, residents in Ismailia threatened to cut off the commercial highway from the Suez Canal after living for a week without water. Similar crises have struck Kafr al-Sheikh, Sohag, Qena and other cities throughout the summer.”
To read more about the changing world and what you can do to prepare, visit: www.newmessage.org
