Egypt completes rehabilitation of 5,242 km of canals as part of national project

CAIRO – 21 June 2022: Egypt has rehabilitated canals with lengths of up to 5,242 km in different governorates thus far since the national project of lining canals kicked off.

The project, launched per the instructions of President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, aims to rehabilitate canals with total lengths of 20,000 km at a cost of L.E. 80 billion by mid-2024.

This comes within the framework of a comprehensive vision seeking to provide necessary water needs for all water-using sectors, both quantitatively and qualitatively, which will reflect positively on achieving sustainable development goals and provide services to beneficiaries with the highest degree of justice and efficiency.

The rehabilitation of canals with lengths of up to 4,080 km is underway, in addition to providing financial funds to rehabilitate canals with lengths of 2,728 km in preparation for putting them up for implementation, bringing the total lengths covered by the project to date to 12,050 km .

In Qalyubia Governorate, the Ministry aims to rehabilitate canals with lengths of 500 km, and financial funds have been arranged to rehabilitate canals with lengths of 250 km.

Modern irrigation projects aim at rationalizing water use and maximizing the return from the water unit. Several expanded conferences and awareness seminars were held in the governorates to introduce the ministry’s plan to implement projects to rehabilitate watersheds and transform into modern irrigation.

A joint cooperation protocol was also signed between the Ministries of Irrigation, Agriculture and Finance, the National Bank of Egypt and the Agricultural Bank of Egypt, with the aim of achieving joint cooperation to implement an ambitious plan to achieve sustainable development for agricultural development projects.

The ministry is centrally involved in the work of the presidential initiative "Haya Karima", which aims to achieve comprehensive development for the most needy rural communities, alleviate the burdens of citizens in these areas, and provide job opportunities.

The bodies of the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation are implementing projects to rehabilitate canals, protect against the dangers of torrential rains, protect the sides of the Nile River, and operate underground wells with solar energy. There are a total of 195 projects, in 54 centers of the first phase of the “Haya Karima” initiative in 20 governorates, at a cost of up to About 13.35 billion pounds.

National Project for lining canals

The national project for lining the canals is a cultural and qualitative leap that comes within the plans and strategies of the Egyptian state to improve the process of water management and distribution. It ensures easy access of irrigation water to agricultural lands, in addition to solving the problems of water delivery at the ends of the canals and increasing agricultural productivity, as well as overcoming health and environmental problems.

The total of the canals targeted to be lined within the governorate, as part of the work of the national project for canal lining, amounted to 212 canals, in cooperation with the Ministry of Irrigation, aiming to rationalize water losses, preserving the environment, and improving irrigation quality.

Sohag is one of the Egyptian governorates that witnessed the largest development and lining of canals in its history, and the national project for the rehabilitation and lining of canals within the presidential initiative "A Dignified Life" is considered a major axis of the development of the Egyptian countryside and the advancement of the standard of living of citizens.