Water Resources Management: Alarming Crisis for Egypt

Water is one of the most important inputs for economic development and sustainable development; as the demandincreases, so too does the importance of water. The future looks miserable if Egypt does not succeed in formulatingand implementing water resources management approach which can match the limited freshwater supply with theincreasing demand. This study intended to shed the light on the future water status in Egypt based on the currentstatus of the available water resources, the water demand, the institutional and legislative frameworks of watermanagement, adding to shed the light on the strategies and policies to rationalize water use and to augment watersupply. This study intended to explore how Egypt will safeguard its water resources in the future, both with respectto quantity and quality and how it will use these resources in the best way. Recommendations to help overcomeanticipated water challenges and to optimize the available opportunities were provided in this worthwhile study asknowledge of Egyptian water resource planning is presently very limited and largely undocumented. Hence, thechallenges and opportunities were discussed in order to support the decision-making process concerned withwater resources management as an essential prerequisite for Egypt sustainable development. The future scenariosthat introduce the future challenges, using the available opportunities, were investigated and recommendations tohelp overcome the future challenges were presented.