New Valley Project
New Valley Project | |
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![]() Satellite view of the Toshka lakes, Sadat canal and the New Valley Project | |
History | |
Modern name | Toshka Project |
Original owner | Egyptian Government |
Construction began | 1997 |
TheNew Valley ProjectorToshka Projectconsists of building a system of canals to carry water fromLake Nassertoirrigatepart of the sandy wastes of theWestern DesertofEgypt,which is part of theSahara Desert.
History[edit]
In 1997, the Egyptian government decided to develop anew valley(as opposed to the existingNile Valley) where agricultural and industrial communities would develop. It has been an ambitious project which was meant to help Egypt cope with its rapidly growing population.
Project[edit]
The canal inlet starts from a site 8 km to the north of Toshka Bay (Khor) on Lake Nasser. The canal is meant to continue westwards until it reaches the Darb el-Arbe'ien route, then northwards along the Darb el- Arbe'ien to theBaris Oasis,covering a distance of 310 km. But as of April 2012, the canal is still 60 km short of the Baris Oasis. TheMubarak Pumping StationinToshkais the centerpiece of the project and was inaugurated in March 2005. It pumps water from Lake Nasser to be transported by way of a canal through the valley, with the idea of transforming 2340 km2(588,000 acres) of desert into agricultural land. The Toshka Project has now been revived by PresidentAbdel Fattah el-Sisi.Half of the land will be given to college graduates, 1 acre each, funded by the Long Live Egypt Fund.
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0a/Toshka-see.jpg/220px-Toshka-see.jpg)
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ca/Toshka_syphon_construction_site.jpg/220px-Toshka_syphon_construction_site.jpg)
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/58/Canal_toshka.jpg/220px-Canal_toshka.jpg)
The essential problem is that the Western Desert's high saline levels and the presence of undergroundaquifersin the area act as a major obstacle to any irrigation project. As the land is irrigated, the salt would mix with the aquifers and would reduce access to potable water. There is also the difficulty that the clay minerals found in the soil are posing technical problems to thebig wheeled structuresmoving around autonomously to irrigate the land. Often their wheels get stuck in a little bowl created by wet clay that dried, and the irrigation machines come to a standstill. The only objective met up to April 2012 is the diversion of water from Lake Nasser into what little of the Sheikh Zayed Canal has been built.
TheToshka Lakesare a by-product of the rising level ofLake Nasserand lie in the same general region as much of the New Valley Project.
See also[edit]
- New Valley Governorate
- Baris Oasis
- Kharga Oasis
- Dakhla Oasis
- Farafra Oasis
- Bahariya Oasis
- Siwa Oasis
External links[edit]
- South Valley Development Project in Toshka,Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation
- Egypt's new Nile Valley grand plan gone bad,The National,22 April 2012
- On Toshka New Valley's mega-failure
- Toshka Project - Mubarak Pumping Station / Sheikh Zayed Canal, Egypt
- Photographs Gallery