In 2015, annual per capita consumption of renewed fresh water was 650 m3, which is significantly below the 1,000 m3 water scarcity threshold.[1] About 98% of Egypt’s fresh water resources originate outside of its borders, such as the Nile River and groundwater aquifers. Indeed, the Nile River provides the country with some 93% of its water requirements.[2] This is considered to be one of the main challenges for water policy and decision-makers. The current water resources are shown in Table 1.
| Water Resource | Volume (billion m3/year) |
| Nile water (High Aswan Dam) | 55.50 |
| Deep Groundwater | 2.1 |
| Rainfall \ Flash Floods | 1.30 |
| Desalination of sea water | 0.35 |
| Shallow Groundwater (Delta) | 7.5 |
| Re-Use of Ag. Drainage Water | 13.5 |
| Total Water Resources | 80.25 BCM/Year |
Table 1. Water resources in Egypt.[3]
Surface water
Egypt has the following riverine and coastal basins:
- The Northern Interior Basin, covering 520,881 km² (52% of the country) in the east and south-east. A sub-basin of the Northern Interior Basin is the Qattara Depression.
- The central Nile Basin, covering 326,751 km² (33% of the country), is a broad north-south strip.
- The Mediterranean Coast Basin, covering 65,568 km² (6% of the country).
- The North-east Coast Basin, a narrow strip of 88,250 km² (8% of the country) along the Red Sea coast.[4]
The Nile River supplies about 93% of Egypt’s annual renewable water resources. A share of 55.5 billion cubic metres per year (BCM/yr) is allocated to Egypt according to the Nile Water Agreement (1959). About 10 BCM/yr is lost through evaporation from the Aswan High Dam reservoir (Lake Nasser).
Groundwater
Egypt has huge natural mineral water resources. However, most of them have not yet been significantly exploited.[5] The total amount of deep groundwater has been estimated at about 40,000 BCM.
The main obstacles in utilizing this resource, which represents approximately 8% of water resources, are the great depth (up to 1,500 metres in some areas) and deteriorating water quality at increasing depth.[6]
| Aquifers | Main Features |
| Nile aquifer | 87% of the total groundwater in Egypt, 100-300 m3/hr |
| Nubian sandstone aquifer | Covers 2 million km2, the total volume stored is about 150,000 BCM |
| Fissured aquifer | Covers 50% of the surface area of Egypt, with productivity from 5 m3/hr to more than 300 m3/hr |
| Moghra aquifer | Found near the surface from Wadi Natun to Wadi Farigh |
| Coastal aquifer | On the northern and western coasts. Recharged by rainfall |
| Hardrock aquifer | Located in the Eastern Desert and southern Sinai. Recharged by small quantities of infiltrating rainwater |
Table 2. Main aquifers in Egypt.[7]
Non-conventional Sources
Non-conventional water resources include agricultural drainage water, desalinated brackish groundwater and/or seawater, and treated municipal wastewater. These resources represent 22.2% of the total available water resources, and are generally used for agriculture, landscaping and industry through specialized processes.[8] Desalination is practiced on a small scale at present, mainly along the Red Sea coast.[9]
[1] Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, Egypt, 2015. ‘Statistics of the Year 2015.’
[2] MWRI, 2017. ‘Facts Regarding the Water Situation in Egypt Report.’
[3] Ibid.
[4] AQUASTAT, no date. ‘Regional report.’ Available at www.fao.org/nr/water/aquastat/countries_regions/EGY/, accessed [10-11-2018].
[5] ‘Sustainable development strategy: Egypt Vision 2030, Environment Pillar.’ Available at http://sdsegypt2030.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/10.-Environment-Pillar.pdf, accessed [10-11-2018].
[6] AQUASTAT, no date. ‘Egypt.’ Available at www.fao.org/nr/water/aquastat/countries_regions/EGY/, accessed [10-11-2018].
[7] MWRI, 2005. ‘National Water Resources Plan 2017.’ Available at http://extwprlegs1.fao.org/docs/pdf/egy147082.pdf), accessed [10-11-2018].
[8] ‘Sustainable development strategy: Egypt Vision 2030, Environment Pillar.’ Available at http://sdsegypt2030.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/10.-Environment-Pillar.pdf, accessed [10-11-2108].
[9] UN-Water Activity Information System. ‘Safe wastewater use in agriculture in Egypt: Case study.’’ Available at www.ais.unwater.org/ais/pluginfile.php/356/mod_page/content/114/Egypt%20FAO-Essam_3.pdf, accessed [10-11-2018].