The High Aswan Dam: benefits and losses

¶ … history of the High Aswan Dam and the benefits and losses to Egypt because of it. It seems the High Aswan Dam has always been surrounded in controversy, even before it actually began construction. An engineering marvel, the dam took over ten years to complete and created one of the largest manmade lakes on earth. Today, the dam controls the Nile River and keeps broad areas of the Nile Delta from flooding each spring, but at what cost?

The High Aswan Dam is actually the second dam at Aswan. The first, constructed in 1899 by the British when Egypt was a British territory, had to be raised twice, in 1907 and 1933. The Nile River is very unpredictable, and it topped the original Aswan Dam several times during its history. The last time it nearly flooded was in 1946, and officials began to talk of raising it again. However, after study, instead of raising the dam a third time, engineers decided to build a much higher dam about four miles upriver from the original dam, and about 400 miles south of Cairo. While they had found an answer to the flooding problems, Egypt could not afford to build the dam all on her own, so Egypt's President Gamal Abdel Nasser sought help from other countries.

He sought help from western funding sources, and the United States and the World Bank agreed to help fund the project, but withdrew when Nasser's political policies continually seemed too closely linked to Communism. This so enraged the leader that he privatized the Suez Canal in order to raise funds to build the dam. This caused the Suez Crisis, in which France, Great Britain, and Israel attacked the nation to regain access to the canal. The UN and other supporters forced the attacking forces to leave, and the canal has remained in Egyptian hands since then. Some funding for the dam did come from revenues from the use of the canal, but it was still not enough to completely finish the dam. With the west out of the funding picture, and Nasser's growing attachment to the Soviet Union, it made sense for Russia to step in. They wanted more influence in Africa, and so, they considered funding the dam.

Finally the Soviet Union stepped in and provided funding, engineering, and equipment to help build the dam. Actual construction of the dam began in 1960, with completion in 1970. However, the dam had been in the planning stages since 1954, when Nasser took over the presidency and started discussing the possibilities of creating a new dam. Before construction could begin, a power station had to be built at the existing dam to provide the power necessary for construction. This was completed by 1960 when construction officially began on the dam.

The lake created by the dam, Lake Nasser, (named after the president) is one of the largest manmade lakes in the world. It holds nearly 164 billion cubic meters of water, and more than 55 million people depend on it for their water needs.

The reservoir is 310 miles long and six miles wide, and covers an area of 1,860 square miles.

The lake is so large it did not completely fill until 1976, six years after the dam was completed, and it began filling in 1964 during the dam's construction.

The dam is truly a marvel of engineering. The engineers designed it to use all local materials in the construction, so nothing had to be imported to complete the dam. It is 11,810 feet long, 131 feet wide at the crest, (1,542 feet from the river bottom to the crest), and holds 55 million cubic yards of material. The actual river portion of the dam is 1,739 feet long, with two wings on either side making up the remaining length.

There are two diversion canals, and upstream and downstream, on the eastern bank of the Nile, along with six spillway tunnels that link the upstream and downstream canals.

The dam was designed and built by the Zuk Hydroproject Institute, a state-owned Soviet Union organization that designed the country's hydroelectric stations as well as the dam.

The dam was created to help control the Nile, but also as a source of power generation, and it has done an outstanding job in that area. In addition, the location of the dam is beneficial for a number of reasons. Engineers studied the geology of the area extensively to find the best location. The banks of the Nile rise very steeply from the riverbed here, and the resulting deep valley provides a perfect location for the dam and reservoir behind it. The channel dam was located in the narrowest part of the river, as well.

The benefits of the dam are many. The Nile River was known for its periodic flooding, which could often be catastrophic. As author Ashok Swain notes, "The High Dam at Aswan has helped to prevent the flooding, and at the same time improved the drought situation in the region. Aswan not only saved Egypt from the drought of 1972-73, it also provided water for farming and drinking during a prolonged drought period in the 1980s."

Thus, agriculture along the Nile is more stable now that the dam controls the flow of the Nile, and the vast amounts of electricity the dam generates have helped speed economic growth and development in the country. In addition, there have been no catastrophic droughts or floods along the Nile since the dam was built, and these often occurred in recurring years before the dam's completion.

The hydroelectric capabilities of the dam are extremely important to the country. There are twelve Francis generators at the site, "[E]ach with a capacity of 175,000kw. The total generating capacity is 2.1 million KW producing ten milliards KWH annually. The electric power generated at Aswan is transferred to Cairo by two high voltage transmission lines of 500 kv."

This has helped Egypt's economy grow, and brought modernization to many rural areas of the country.

One unexpected benefit of the dam to the country is tourism. Because of the dam, Aswan Province has grown to become a desirable tourist destination, and a wintertime resort. The province has grown dramatically since the dam's completion, and it was once an undesirable location to Egyptians, but now people from all over the world travel to Aswan to view the dam and enjoy recreational opportunities on Lake Nasser. Visitors to the dam get a glorious view of the lake and surrounding area, and the dam has increased the fishing industry in the area, as well, also adding to the economic success of Aswan Province.

However, while the benefits of the dam are many, there were also many problems associated with it from the start. A group of students at the University of Colorado at Denver note, "Silt-free water reduced marine life downstream of the dams, the reduced flow caused salt water to backup into the delta and work its way into the soils reducing crop yield, and the generators cost millions of dollars to repair."

As with other dams, silt build up behind the dam will eventually force dredging or even heightening of the dam, and can reduce the size of the reservoir if allowed to build up for too long. Studies indicate this is a long time away from occurring, but each year the committee that oversees dam operations commissions a study to determine how much silt is building up behind the dam and in the reservoir.

Perhaps one of the most well-known problems associated with the dam is the flooding of several ancient historic sites, including the Great Temple at Abu Simbel. Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses II built the temple as a monument to himself and his queen, Nefertari thousands of years ago. The most notable parts of the temple were the huge statues of the king and queen, standing hundreds of feet tall. The monuments were relocated to higher ground at a cost of $40 million, and the project took four years to complete. Each piece of the monument had to be removed, numbered, and painstakingly reassembled at the new site. The monument was actually carved into over 1,000 pieces, somewhat like a giant jigsaw puzzle. The project was promoted worldwide to raise the money necessary to move the monuments. Today, the monuments look out over Lake Nasser.

There were other historic sites that had to be moved as well, and all of this was costly and time consuming. The Temple of Philae was also relocated. Originally on an island in the Nile, it was underwater for several months each year after the old dam was completed. The High Dam would submerge it forever, so it was moved to another island. Visitors can take a boat to the island to visit the temple today.

The biggest problem with the construction of the dam was the flooding of Nubia. As Lake Nasser formed, it totally flooded the entire country of Nubia. Egypt relocated all the people of the country, but their entire way of life and culture disappeared. The student editors continue, "Prior to the appearance of Lake Nasser [...] the Nubians cultivated plots along the shore. Those areas are now completely underwater. Many people have left the settlements that were created for them and returned to the lake's edge, trying to recreate their lost culture."

Sadly, because the dam has affected the flow of the Nile, and because the lakeshore is different from the river's edge, their way of life has been permanently changed. Many nomadic Egyptian tribes were also affected. They did not understand the effect the lake would have on their tribal lands, and these changes altered the way they care for their livestock and make their livings. In short, the dam affected people's lives adversely in many areas, and the human cost of the dam has been extremely high.