VZCZCXRO3048
PP RUEHAST RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHPB RUEHPOD RUEHTM RUEHTRO
DE RUEHEG #0533 0880938
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 290938Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2021
INFO RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA PRIORITY 0347
RUEHKH/AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM PRIORITY 1270

UNCLAS CAIRO 000533 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
OES TO AARON SALZBURG, NEA/ELA TO SCHALL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV ECON PGOV EAGR PBTS EG
SUBJECT: THE WELL RUNS DRY FOR WATER MINISTER: DEBATE OVER 
WATER RESOURCES LEADS TO CABINET RESHUFFLE 
 
¶1. (SBU) Key points: 
 
-- The March 11 appointment of Mohamed Nasr El Din Allam as 
Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources (MoIWR) highlights 
the fight over limited water resources, pitting agribusiness 
against environmental scientists and government officials who 
are encouraging conservation and better planning of new farms 
and housing developments. 
 
-- Senior officials at MoIWR told us that the former 
minister's opposition to unchecked agricultural development 
in the desert and current water usage policy led to clashes 
with the Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture Abaza. 
 
 
¶2. (SBU) COMMENT: The environmental sustainability and 
economic feasibility of the new agricultural projects outside 
the Nile Valley and Toshka city is still unclear.  The 
appointment of an academic with no managerial experience from 
outside of the hierarchy of the MoIWR or the GOE-funded Water 
Research Center hints at an effort to mute the ministry's 
criticism of the PM and Abaza's plans to greatly expand 
agricultural lands in the desert. END COMMENT. 
 
¶3. (SBU) On March 11, Prime Minister Nazif appointed Mohamed 
Nasr El Din Allam, a professor of civil engineering at Cairo 
University, to the position of Minister of Irrigation and 
Water Resources (MoIWR). Former minister Mahmoud Abu Zeid 
resigned in early March, citing health and personal concerns 
for his early departure.  However, several senior officials 
at MoIWR told us that Abu Zeid's opposition to unchecked 
agricultural development in the desert led to clashes with 
the Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture Abaza over the 
last year.  The PM and Abaza sought additional quotas of 
water for irrigation to support new agricultural projects in 
the Western Desert, and supported the construction of the 
planned city of Toshka, despite significant criticism from 
environmental watchdog organizations, and concerns about cost 
overruns (septel). Our sources at MoIWR note that Abaza is 
pushing for a drastic reallocation of water for irrigation to 
newly reclaimed land.  On March 26, Abaza stated in the press 
that traditional agricultural areas in the Nile Valley 
(approximately 6 million feddans) consume 80 percent of water 
allocated to irrigation and produce only 55 percent of the 
total agricultural production in Egypt.  He claimed that the 
newly reclaimed agricultural lands already produce the 
remaining 45 percent of total production and will continue to 
be more productive. 
 
¶4. (SBU) In the last year, Abu Zeid spoke out publicly 
against the development of El Sallam Canal and Toshka city, 
indicating that both would overtax Egypt's water resources, 
and claimed that Egypt had already reached the "water poverty 
limit," which jeopardizes food security. Minimum water 
sufficiency is defined as one thousand cubic meters of water 
to produce enough food per person per year.  Water poverty is 
defined as failing to reach this minimum per person. Water 
scientists estimate that Egypt is currently down to 650-700 
cubic meters per person per year. 
 
¶5. (SBU) After his appointment of Allam to the MoIWR, the PM 
stated that "fresh blood" at the ministry would generate new 
ideas for addressing the GOE's plan to develop half a million 
new acres of arable land for farming.  He added that this 
vision required an additional 9 billion cubic meters (bcm) of 
water.  Per a 1959 agreement with Sudan, Egypt's portion of 
Lake Nasser water, its main source of water for irrigation, 
is 55.5 bcm per year, but USAID notes that Egypt is already 
drawing close to 60 bcm per year. 
SCOBEY