GCSE Geography
Year 10
UNIT 2
WATER, LANDFORMS
& PEOPLE.
Case Study:
Over coming water shortages
and controlling floods.
The River Nile and the Aswan
high dam, Egypt.
Introduction:
There are many world examples
of where an attempt to solve
one human problem can create
new environmental ones. The
building of the Aswan Dam on
the River Nile in Egypt is one
such example.
A satellite image of the Nile basin:
Facts about the Nile:
The Nile is the world’s longest river.
 It flows 6,690 km (4,160 miles) from its
source on the equator to its mouth in the
Mediterranean Sea.
 The river basin of the Nile covers onetenth of all Africa.
 During its 1,520 km (950 mile) journey
through Egypt it has no tributaries and
hardly ever gets any rain.

A photograph of the River
Nile:
Egypt, the gift of the Nile:
Nile
supported agricultural
population for thousands of
years.
River supplied Egypt’s water
needs.
Annual floods deposited nutrient-rich silt next
to river and in delta.
Irrigation made farming possible in an
otherwise desert area.
Water for irrigation was obtained by two
methods:
1.
Each Autumn, annual flood water was
allowed to cover the land, where it
remained trapped behind small bunds until
it deposited its silt.
2. During the rest of the year when river
levels were low, water was lifted one or
two metres by a shaduf (sakia) wheel or
Archimedes screw.
Only the land next to the Nile had a reliable, regular
supply of water. Land further away from the river
needed to be irrigated. Irrigation is the artificial
watering of the land. One old method is shown below
The Shaduf is a long
pole. At one end is a
bucket which is dipped
into the river, and at
the other end is a
heavyweight. The
weight makes it easier
to swing the full
bucket round to the
irrigation channel.
Early river management:
Since the time of the Pharaohs, the Egyptians
wanted to control the Nile so that its level would
remain constant throughout the year.
 Barrages designed to store water did not meet the
needs of the country’s rapidly growing population
and increasing demand for food.
 The problem was how to increase the area of
cultivated land and, at the same time, produce
electricity.

The Aswan High Dam
Aswan High Dam fact file:
The dam and associated hydro-electric
power station, opened in 1971.
 It took 11 years to construct.
 Lake Nasser, which formed behind the dam,
is 550 km in length.
 The area of Lake Nasser is 6000 km 2.
 The total capacity of the lake is 162, 000
million litres.

A multipurpose scheme:
It was built:
1.
2.
3.
4.
To stop, by storing water in Lake Nasser,
serious flooding in the Lower Nile valley
and, by releasing it throughout the year, to
maintain a constant river level.
To provide water all the year round for
domestic, agricultural and industrial use.
To increase the area of cultivation.
To provide hydro-electric power.
Was the dam a success?
While the scheme has indeed brought
many benefits to Egypt (mainly
economic and social), it has also
created many problems (often
environmental and health), some of
which were unforeseen.
Advantages of the dam:
Disadvantages of the dam: