Question

What problems did the construction of the Aswan High Dam create for the people of Egypt and their environment?

Answer 1

The Aswan High Dam was built to regulate and control the annual flooding of the Nile River in order to protect crops and property from such uncontrolled flooding and to generate electricity. Most of its effects have been positive but several environmental effects are:

- Water-logging: because of the continuous high levels of water, the soil around the area is saturated with water, which prevents oxygenation of the soil that is essential to several plants and crops.

- Salinization of soils: caused by the inability of water-saturated soils to absorb salt, it is toxic to crops and damaging to infrastructures.

- Soil Erosion: it is a consequence of soil salinization as crops die and are unable to hold the soil in place.

There were also other negative effects such as:

- Archeology: two important archeological sites of Ancient Egypt were flooded and covered by the dam waters: the ancient cemetery of Fadrus and the Buhen fort.

- Loss of sediment: the annual flooding carried an enormous amount of sediment that is now trapped within the resulting Lake Nasser. Many of these sediments were used by local industries to manufacture bricks and they lost access to this renewable source of raw materials.

- More expensive and difficult purification of water: because the water does not move as much it is more transparent and allows the sunlight to penetrate deeper. This, combined with the trapped sediments has increased the growth of algae that have proliferated to the point that water purification is more and more expensive due to the necessary removal of this plant.

Answer 2

Answer:

The Aswan High Dam was built to regulate and control the annual flooding of the Nile River in order to protect crops and property from such uncontrolled flooding and to generate electricity. Most of its effects have been positive but several environmental effects are:

- Water-logging: because of the continuous high levels of water, the soil around the area is saturated with water, which prevents oxygenation of the soil that is essential to several plants and crops.

- Salinization of soils: caused by the inability of water-saturated soils to absorb salt, it is toxic to crops and damaging to infrastructures.

- Soil Erosion: it is a consequence of soil salinization as crops die and are unable to hold the soil in place.

There were also other negative effects such as:

- Archeology: two important archeological sites of Ancient Egypt were flooded and covered by the dam waters: the ancient cemetery of Fadrus and the Buhen fort.

- Loss of sediment: the annual flooding carried an enormous amount of sediment that is now trapped within the resulting Lake Nasser. Many of these sediments were used by local industries to manufacture bricks and they lost access to this renewable source of raw materials.

- More expensive and difficult purification of water: because the water does not move as much it is more transparent and allows the sunlight to penetrate deeper. This, combined with the trapped sediments has increased the growth of algae that have proliferated to the point that water purification is more and more expensive due to the necessary removal of this plant.

Explanation: The human ubove me said this.