That was the title of a graduation project - under my supervision - for College of Engineering Class of 1997, at the American University in Cairo (AUC), while I was on a 2-year leave from the University of California in Berkeley as the director of the University of California Study Center at AUC. The High Aswan Dam is the ultimate sacred cow in Egypt, and delving into the consequences of this project is like approaching a high-voltage third-wire. Every Egyptian from the far right Islamist to extreme left liberal will reach for your throat with a knife if you dare to criticize. However, the matter is too dead serious for the future of our beloved Egypt to be further intimidated into prolonged silence. Therefore, I will separate my detailed points for the inspection of the technically-inclined readers into future essays. Here are the key points:
1- I call for an open scientific conference on the merits of the High Aswan Dam. The focus should be on the future: what can we do to deal with current problems/shortcomings. How to expand benefits and eliminate or lessen shortfalls to the People of Egypt. To my knowledge, there has never been one before, truly open for critics as well as supporters. When the subject comes, any one turns into an instant expert, repeating silly. worthless cliche replies.
2- Among my main concerns is the Survival of the Nile Delta. 90% of Egyptians live on it. After the High Aswan Dam, the Nile stopped behaving like a natural river north of Aswan. It became a fully controlled water way. The forces of nature started acting accordingly. The destruction of the Nile Delta has begun as a result. River deltas are the construction of natural rivers. The devastation along the Nile Delta's shores and lakes are evident first steps. The lack of relative damages west and east of the Delta disproves the claim of global warming/sea-level rise as the culprit!
3- The situation, I claim, is quite alarming. However, scientific solutions are available and feasible. The first step is to recognize there is a problem. I cite only one example. In the middle of last century. short-sighted engineering projects (with good intention) wreaked havoc to the complex natural river system in Florida, USA. Much like our High Aswan Dam. They are now painstakingly and carefully working to correct the wrongs of the past, with improved appreciation of the awesome and complicated power of the God-given environment we live in.
