Irrigation min. checks on maintenance work at Aswan reservoir, High Dam

CAIRO, Feb 9 (MENA) - Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Mohamed Abdel Aati reviewed with General Authority of the High Dam and Aswan Reservoir Hussien Galal and Head of the National Water Research Center (NWRC) Khaled Abdel Haie renovation and maintenance work at Aswan reservoir and the High Dam.

The meeting also tackled the activities of the authority and the research studies conducted by the NWRC in light of the efforts of the state in the field of maintaining and ensuring the safety of the High Dam.

Abdel Aati asserted that the achievements of the authority included implementing investment plans at the cost of EGP 150 million and renovation of old parts of Aswan Dam.

Aswan High Dam is an embankment dam built across the Nile in Aswan, Egypt, between 1960 and 1970. Its significance largely eclipsed the previous Aswan Low Dam initially completed in 1902 downstream. Based on the success of the Low Dam, then at its maximum utilization, construction of the High Dam became a key objective of the government following the Egyptian Revolution of 1952; with its ability to better control flooding, provide increased water storage for irrigation and generate hydroelectricity the dam was seen as pivotal to Egypt's planned industrialization. The High Dam has had a significant effect on the economy and culture of Egypt.