The Egyptian–Dutch Advisory Panel on Land Drainage was established in 1976 and is the oldest project under the Egyptian–Dutch Bilateral Cooperation Programme. The construction of the Aswan High Dam in the south of Egypt necessitated large-scale drainage in the Nile Valley and Delta. Egypt has benefited from Dutch expertise in land drainage through the work of the Advisory Panel, initially through a number of projects for developing new technologies geared to Egyptian conditions.
Goals
The main objective of the Advisory Panel Project (APP) is ‘to assist, in its advisory capacity, the MWRI in carrying out its responsibilities towards managing the water resources of Egypt more efficiently and effectively.’
Deliverables
Identify important issues for Egyptian water management
Lift issues from a project-based context into MWRI
Coordinate joint Dutch–Egyptian projects
Initiate and introduce new water concerns to MWRI
Elaborate and analyse key issues
Impact
Egypt and the Netherlands have many characteristics in common. Both are located in the downstream region of a large river basin (the Nile and the Rhine) and both are densely populated countries whose economic activities, including agriculture, are concentrated in a river delta. Adequate water management is crucial for the development of both countries. The Panel now makes recommendations on issues relating to water user involvement, the decentralisation of water management, national water resources planning, water quality management, cost recovery, etc. The issues dealt with are relevant to the situation in the Netherlands as well as Egypt.
In general terms, the projects implemented under the Panel framework have achieved several major benefits: solutions have been found for many technical problems; policies have been formulated or assistance given to policy formulation; and the capability of the staff involved, both Egyptian and Dutch, has been greatly enhanced.