WATER AS AN ECONOMIC GOOD: AN APPROACH TO THE EGYPTIAN ECONOMY

By Mervat Doss1 and Grant Milne2

This paper benefited from the comments on an earlier proposal presented for the Beijer Workshop on “Property Rights Structures and Environmental Resource Management” Egypt , March, 2001

1

Assistant Professor, Economics Department, The American University in Cairo, Cairo, Egypt. E-mail: [email protected] 2 G.R. Milne Technical Consulting, Victoria, Mahe, Seychelles. E-mail: [email protected]

DRAFT

WATER AS AN ECONOMIC GOOD: AN APPROACH TO THE EGYPTIAN ECONOMY 1.0 INTRODUCTION Inefficient use of water is the most crucial environmental and development problem in Egypt. Population and GDP growth, and urbanization are rapidly increasing water demand. In Egypt, water is scarce but not treated as an economic good. People therefore have little incentive either to conserve water or safeguard its quality, thus leading to overuse and degradation. Improving this situation requires two important steps. First and fundamentally, clear property rights for water must be established and enforced. Second, more efficient markets for water must be created. Efficiency implies treating water as an economic resource, with prices based on supply and demand rather than subsidized administered prices or, no price at all. Proper pricing of water should allow market forces to operate and provide a stronger financial incentive for people to conserve water, which would then address emerging supply problems. A market for water also means that human behavior and demand are driven by opportunity cost, i.e. if the user values the commodity less than the market values it, then the user will be induced to sell excess water; this will also address supply problems. Various economic incentives can also play a significant role in reducing water pollution, which in turn would help address supply deficits. In Egypt, there is presently an excessive reliance on central government for water and wastewater services. Devolution of power to local government might improve participatory efforts to manage water resources and strengthen coordination between sectors, local government, and institutions. Opportunities for partnerships between the public and private sectors for water supply and treatment also need to be explored. In the first part of this paper, current trends for water use in Egypt are presented. In the second part, scarcity and the subsequent allocation problem are introduced. Contributors to water supply and demand problems are raised describing inefficient water use, major pollutants, and the effluent reductions necessary to achieve the water quality objectives as well as institutional failure and property right problems. Then, solutions are offered by markets in which more efficient property rights and the price system are discussed. The following part examines decentralizing the responsibility for water services from the central government to local authorities, and potential partnerships between the private and public sectors. The last section introduces a partial equilibrium model to analyze the demand for irrigation water thus allocating water among regions or crops depending on efficient water use

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2.0 CURRENT AND FORECAST FRESHWATER SUPPLIES IN EGYPT 2.1 The River Nile The Nile supplies 96% of Egypt’s fresh water. It is the longest river in the world, flowing approximately 6,800 km from south to north. Its headwaters stem from the Ruvyironza River in Burundi. The Nile finally ends its journey in the Nile Delta and the Mediterranean Sea. The river basin includes nine states: Rwanda, Burundi, Zaire, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt. The Blue Nile reaches a confluence with the White Nile at Khartoum after running 1,500 km from the east where Lake Tuna pours out of the Ethiopian highlands. The White Nile reaches Khartoum with its great volume from the inland sea of Lake Victoria north to Egypt where it meets Lake Nasser, a man-made lake formed by the Aswan High Dam. The dam was opened in 1970 and provides protection against floods and drought. It is also an important source of electric power. On the other hand, critics have claimed the dam prevents the natural flooding of the delta and hinders deposition of rich silt downstream. A major obstacle to increased water flow is a swamp in southern Sudan. In the 1930s, the British and Egyptians proposed a canal in order to decrease evaporation and disease that thrive in this swamp. When the so-called Jonglei Canal is completed, the net increase in annual river flow will be 18 bm3. A bilateral agreement between Egypt and Sudan stipulates that the water will be divided equally between the two states. Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia presently use the greatest portion of the river’s water. Available Nile water in Aswan is estimated at 84 bm3 of which 10 bm3 is lost through evaporation; the remaining volume is distributed between Egypt and Sudan at the rate of 3:1 according to a 1959 bilateral treaty. Thus, Egypt’s share is an average 55.5 bm3/year. Only about 0.26 bm3of fresh water actually reaches the sea (Abou Zied 1990). The current water flow allows for year-round river navigation, even during the period when the water level is lowest. According to the Egyptian national plan, distribution of Nile water use in Egypt for the year 2000-2001 is approximately 67.6 bm3, comprising of agricultural, industrial and municipal demand of 55.2, 7.6 and 4.5 bm3 respectively (Table 1). The added 12.1 bm3 water use over the released water from the Aswan High Dam (67.6-55.5) comes from recycled agricultural drainage water (5.0 bm3), municipal reused drainage water (0.7 bm3), ground water (5.4 bm3) and some rainfall (1.0 bm3). Agriculture consumes nearly 82% of Egypt’s share of River Nile. By the year 2017, total water demand in Egypt is estimated at 87.9 bm3, representing a 30% increase over current consumption. The major contributor to this increase is in the agriculture sector. Egypt is entering into new agricultural development projects to expand the cultivatable area from 7.5 million to 11 million feddan, representing an overall increase of 3.4 million feddan.

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Fig.

1

4

Table 1. Estimated water consumption from the Nile River, 2000 and 2017, Egypt Sector ( %of total) Municipal Industrial Agricultural Navigation Total Water Consumption

Consumption 2000 (bm3) Consumption 2017 (bm3) 4.5 6.6 7.6 10.6 55.2 70.7 0.3 0.0 67.6 87.9

Source: Ministry of Water Resources, 2000

Sudan and Ethiopia presently use about 17.3 bm3 of Nile water. Sudan consumes 97% of this volume. Over the next few years, these countries are expected to significantly increase their water demand (Table 2). With Sudan, it is expected that another 20 bm3 of water is needed to expand the cultivated land by 6 million feddans. In Ethiopia, population increases (over 60 million) and a number of serious droughts over the past few decades have pushed water security to the top of the country’s development agenda; most increases in water supply must come from the Nile. It is estimated that the increased demand could be as high as 7 bm3 per annum. Internally, Ethiopia is planning to raise the level of some dams or build new dams to store more water for agricultural use. This could reduce the amount of water flowing into the Nile through Egypt and Sudan.

Table 2. Estimated increase in Nile water use by countries, 2005 Increase in Water Consumption (bm3) 13.5 20.0 7.0 8.8 49.3

Country Egypt Sudan Ethiopia White Nile Upper stream countries Total Source: Al Mahdy, 2000.

2.2 Ground Water Ground water is stored in aquifers, which are water-bearing rock formations that hold water in the inter-particle pore space and cracks within rock material. The two basic types of aquifers are the unconfined aquifer and the confined aquifer. An unconfined aquifer (also called a water table aquifer) has an extensive water table open to recharge by precipitation. A confined aquifer does not have an extensive water table. Water is pressurized and can flow from the well without pumping (Thompson 1999). This water, generally described as fossil water, is mostly nonrenewable except for coastal and Delta aquifers. The chemical quality of the water is generally suitable for irrigation and domestic uses with an average total dissolved solids (TDS) less than 1000 ppm. Salinity increases on approaching the east/west extremities, and ranges from 500 ppm to 3000

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ppm. High salinity water could be made suitable for crop irrigation by combining two parts of surface water to one part of ground water (Farid et al 1999). In Egypt, the main aquifers are generally formed of granular rocks (sand and gravel) or fissured and limestone rocks. The deep–lying aquifers systems comprise of the following (Figure 1 and Table 3): • The regional Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System, occupying much of the area of Egypt and continuing across the border in a westward direction into Libya, in the south and southwestward direction into the Sudan and Chad, and in the eastward direction into Israel, Jordan and the Arabian Peninsula (Shata 1987). The thickness of the sediments varies from few hundred meters in the south, to 4000 meters west of Abu Mongar. • Carbonate Aquifers occupying at least 50% of Egypt. They are made of fissured limestone, giving rise to natural springs with a total flow of 200,000 m3. Salinity varies between 1500-7000 ppm. Lower salinity is reported in Siwa Oases at 200 ppm (Hefny 1999). • The Moghra Aquifer System, has a broad geographical distribution in the region west of the Nile Delta and south of the great Quattara Depression (Shata 1987). It is characterized by its high salinity, which ranges between 1000 and 5000 ppm. The aquifer water is a mixture of Paleo water and renewable water. • The Nile Valley and Delta aquifer is the most productive, containing around 200x103 million m3, renewable by infiltration from irrigation systems. Thickness of the aquifer decreases from 300 meters at Sohag to a few meters near Cairo and south near Aswan. The aquifer loses its water through Rosetta Branch into the Mediterranean and Suez Canal (Hefny 1999) • The Coastal Aquifer lies 35 km from the seashore, 45 km north of Cairo and is recharged mainly from rainwater and from high-pressure water in the Nubian Sandstone aquifer. It is renewable, but deeper and with salinity varying between 3000-5000 ppm (Hefny 1999). • Rose basement rock has the same characteristics like Carbonate Akfar but is difficult to explore since it is very deep. At least L.E 3million is needed to dig a well (Hefny 1999). Table 3. Major aquifers, renewability, salinity and productivity, Egypt Aquifer

Confined/nonconfined/semi-confined Nile Valley Confined and delta Moghra Semi-confined Nubian Unconfined Coastal Confined Carbonate Non-confined Rose Non-confined Source: Compiled from Hefny, 1999

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Renewable or Non-renewable Renewable

Salinity

Productivity

Low

Very high

Non-renewable Non-renewable Renewable Non-renewable Non-renewable

High Low High High High

Low Medium Medium Low Low

The Nile receives a total amount of 1.6x103 million m3/year as drainage from aquifers. The total amount of ground water already used for agriculture and domestic purposes is about 2.6x109 m3/year and is extracted from about 9,000 wells (Hefny 1999). Approximately 1.0x103 million m3/year of ground water is extracted through productive wells. In 1990, total extraction of groundwater amounted to 3.3 bm3 to meet irrigation and domestic water requirements. It is estimated that 4.8 bm3 of ground water is currently used in the Valley and Delta, as well as 0.57 bm3 in the desert and Sinai for a total of 5.37 bm3 of ground water. Ground water extraction can be increased to 11 bm3 without depletion of underground reservoirs. There is a future possible estimated increase of 8.3 bm3 (Hefny 1999). This shows that ground water plays an important role in water supply and food security (especially in drought periods), developing new lands, as well as improving the drainage in salinized areas. In Egypt, engineers are searching for new ground water reserves using satellite imaging.

2.3 Rain Water Egypt lies in a subtropical region with a dry climate. The greater part of the country has little rainfall, the exception being the northern part of the Nile delta and the Mediterranean coast, where average annual rainfall amounts to around 200mm. These cover the coastal belt of the Mediterranean, with about 100-150 mm rain-fall per year, and inland province along the Mediterranean with about 100mm rainfall per annum. (UNDP 1992).

2.4 Summary of Water Supply and Consumption in Egypt Current supply from the Nile, available ground water, rain, recycling and more efficient irrigation is approximately 67.6 bm3 per year (Table 4). Current estimated consumption is approximately 72.4 bm3 per annum (MPWWR 1999). This implies a supply gap of 4.8 bm3. Opportunities to increase the water supply are limited. More worrying is the longerterm trend from Table 4, which shows consumption increasing to around 88 bm3 by the year 2017. This suggests a supply gap of approximately 20 bm3. Due to the intensive use of irrigated land and the expected increases in demand for water for all uses, it is clear that unless action is taken, future demand for river water will greatly outweigh the supply. Water savings offer a partial solution to this problem. It is estimated that the potential water savings will reach 19.1 bm3 for the year 2017 (Table 5). This could close the supply gap but leaves no room for higher consumption. There is an obvious allocation problem and a necessity to improve the management of both irrigated water and aquifers to meet the increasing demand.

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Table 4. Summary of available water resources, 2000 and 2017, Egypt (%of total)

Water Supply Source

Estimated Supply 2000 (bm3) 55.5

Estimated Supply 2017 (bm3) 57.5

Rainfall

1.0

1.5

Desert and Sinai Underground Water Valley and Delta Underground Water Municipal reused drainage water Agricultural reused drainage water Improving irrigation system Total available Water in 2000-2001

0.6

3.5

4.8

7.5

0.7

2.5

5.1

8.4

0.0

7.0

67.6

87.9

River Nile

Source: Ministry of Water Resources, 2000

Table 5. Potential water savings/resources forecast, 2017, Egypt Volume (bm3)

Water Saving Source Additional agricultural drainage reuse

4.5

Additional pumping from the renewable groundwater in the Delta and Valley Water saving by irrigation improvement projects

2.4 2.4

Water saving by reducing rice area and using early maturing rice varieties Water saving by reducing sugar cane area and by applying improved irrigation techniques Harvesting the flash floods in the Valley and rain in the Delta Water saving by upgrading the irrigation network

4.0

Abstraction of new renewable ground water in desert Recycling of the sewerage treated water

1.6

Total

1.2 1.0 1.2

1.0 19.1

8

Source: Ministry of Public Works and Water Resources, 1999

2.5 International Comparisons In the early 1960’s, the amount of water available for each Egyptian was 1,893 m3 per year. By 1996, due mainly to increasing population, the per capita volume dropped by approximately 50% to 936 m3, thus placing Egypt in the middle between water–poor countries and water rich ones. The population of Egypt in 1999 reached 63 million people, with an annual growth rate of 2.1%. While population growth rates are slowing, by 2025 Egypt’s population could still be as high as 85 million. In the next 25 years, per capita water availability may decrease by another 50% or 468 m3 (MPWWR 1999). Egypt is currently under the world “poverty water line”, which is 1000 m3 per capita per annum. To compare with other Middle Eastern countries; Syria and Turkey are higher, Lebanon is almost the same as Egypt whereas Jordan and Libya have much lower water potentials.

3.0 CONTRIBUTORS TO WATER SUPPLY/DEMAND PROBLEMS IN EGYPT 3.1 Background From the previous analysis, it is clear that serious freshwater deficits could occur in Egypt in the next two decades. The potential impacts on economic and social development could be catastrophic. Given this outlook, it is important to understand the key underlying reasons and examine how best to address these problems. The situation is complex and will likely require a range of technical, economic and institutional solutions.

3.2 Problem: Water-Inefficient Farm Production and Crop Selection Only a small portion of Egypt is arable land suitable for agriculture. Still, it accounts for about 20% of GDP and employs 37% of the work force (El Zanaty. 1998). The actual area of cultivated land is unknown since the last census of agricultural activity was in 1961. Best estimates place it at about 7.5 million feddan or about 3% of Egypt’s total land area of 238 million feddan. Limited water resources has a major impact on agriculture output, along with adverse water quality and loss of agricultural land to other uses such as urban encroachment. These problems undermine the prospects of expanding agriculture output from arable land presently under production. One solution has been the initiation of projects such as the New Valley development (Toshka and Al Salam) in southern Egypt. It is assumed that the new cropped area will grow by 1.5% providing 14% of the increased production, which of course necessitates attention to increasing water efficiency in farm production. Whether the productivity on new lands is higher or not is one question. Whether there will be enough water for old and new land is also another question. It should be noted that water shortages are already more prevalent in the Delta region i.e. north of Cairo rather than in Upper Egypt i.e. southern region of Egypt. In the Eastern Delta, 73% of 9

farmers lose crops due to water shortage during the hot summer months compared with only 33% in Upper Egypt (El Zanaty,1998). The crop yields in Egypt are high for the region but well below those of comparable areas of the world such as California in the United States. Possible reasons include labour and capital productivity, application of technology, genetic improvements of crops, and efficient water use. Assuming Egypt has continued uptake of technology and genetically improved crop races, and general improvements to factor productivity, economic growth in agriculture as yields should gradually approach those in comparable areas around the world (Mellor 1999). One potential limiting factor however, may be water supply. It is essential that the existing agriculture sector use water resources more efficiently to release excess water to support expanded arable production. Based on a simple national average, rice, sugar cane and fruits presently have the three highest water consumption figures per feddan of all crops (Table 6). When the government liberalized cropping decisions, there was tendency for farmers to grow more rice. Rice production area almost doubled, which replaced cotton and maize cropping in summer because of rice’s higher profitability. If farmers irrigate more than one million feddan of rice, they use an amount equal to 20% of all water delivered by the River Nile. This trend is not sustainable with current water delivery systems. Water consumption per feddan is highest in Upper Egypt for all crops.

Table 6. Water consumption by crop type and region, Egypt Crop Type

Sugar Cane Rice Fruits Cotton Peanuts Maize Wheat Malt Summer Vegetables Onions Sesami Beans Winter Vegetables Lentil Average for all crops

Water Consumption by Region (m3/feddan) Delta Middle Upper National Egypt Egypt Average 10000 12750 11375 6470 6470 5610 5798 7522 6310 2645 4960 5434 4346 1162 2752 5738 3217 2400 2657 3947 3001 2152 2795 3072 2673 1670 2520 3015 2402 1695 2138 3280 2371 2280 2410 2410 2367 1866 2152 2630 2216 1790 2195 2558 2181 1604 2250 2450 2103 1865 2105 2263 2078 2555 2672 3409

Source: Ministry of Water Resources, 2000

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Growth in urban and industrial demand for water plus the diversion of approximately 10% of the Nile River’s flow to the New Valley will require a reduced rate of use in other areas (EPIQ 1998). The obvious question is how to use water more efficiently in farm production, particularly in Upper Egypt. Improving this situation will require two important steps. First, is the establishment and enforcement of clear property rights for water. This is a fundamental prerequisite for the second step, which is to develop a more efficient market for water.

3.3 Problem: Water Pollution Generally, freshwaters contain a variety of natural contamination arising from leaching, and normal geological weathering processes in the surrounding watersheds. Added to this natural contamination is domestic and industrial wastewater, which may be disposed directly into surface water, and percolate into ground water. Contamination behaves in different ways when added to water. Within limits, materials like organics and microorganisms can be degraded by the water’s natural-purification process, or by flowing through wetlands such as the Delta. In contrast, inorganic pollutants are not affected by natural purification processes; their concentrations may only be reduced by dilution. Toxic compounds arising from industrial discharges (heavy metals, herbicides and pesticides, plus inert suspended or dissolved solids) destroy the natural biological activity in the water. Oxygen balance is also affected due to organic or inorganic substances, oils and detergents that hinder oxygen transfer across the air-water interface. (Tebbutt 1998) River pollution is undesirable due to contamination of water supplies, which need additional treatment, the negative effect on aquatic biodiversity, changes to the general appearance and odor, etc. If we consider the case of the Nile, water quality released from the Aswan High dam shows little degradation. Total dissolved solids concentrations are generally measured around 170 mg/L at the first sampling site downstream of the dam because the Nile has essentially no major industrial development near its banks or within its watershed upstream from Cairo. It remains remarkably clean of chemical pollution until it reaches the Delta (National Water Quality Conservation Unit 1995). The water quality downstream from Cairo steadily deteriorates as it is used and reused by farmers and communities (Table 7). The sources of contaminants can be grouped into three categories: industrial, agricultural and domestic. Industrial: Egypt shifted away from the traditional agrarian base to heavy industries in the early 19th century. The National Specialized Council estimated the industrial pollutants dumped into the Nile as 1151 tonnes/day of dissolved solids, 296 tonnes/day of suspended solids 168 tonnes/day of oils and 1.65 tonnes/day of heavy metals (NSC 1992). Industrial wastewater from Greater Cairo represents 23% of total industrial wastes in Egypt. The General Organization for Industrialization (GOFI) stated that some 0.75 tonnes/day of heavy metals are discharged representing 46% of the total heavy metal discharge of the industrial sector (Table 8).

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Table 7. Rankings of water quality by type by region, Egypt

Pathogens Nutrients Trace Metals Salinity Oil and Grease Pesticides Oxygen demanding substances

Upper Fayoum Cairo East Middle West Egypt Delta Delta Delta Low High Low Medium Medium Medium None Medium Low Low Low Low Low Medium Low Low Low Low None Medium None Low Low Medium Low Low Medium Low Low Low Low Low Low Low Low Low Low Low Low Low Low Medium

Northern Lakes Medium Medium Medium Low Low Medium Medium

Source: National Water Quality Conservation Unit, 1995.

Table 8. Yearly water consumption, effluent volumes and polluting loads in regions

Regions Greater Cairo Alexandria Lower Egypt Upper Egypt The Canal and Remote Gov. Total

No. 127 85 60 35 24 331

Water mcm/year Use EF 162 128 110 88 146 125 211 204 7 5 636

550

Pollution Loads (tonnes/day) BOD COD Oil SS Metals 71 120 93 97 0.75 91 186 43 40 0.17 34 42 24 86 0.5 72 37 5 68 0.2 2 3 3 5 0.3 270

388

168

296

1.92

Source: Nile Research Institute, 1995 Notes: No.=number of plants, EF=Effluent Volumes, BOD=Biological Oxygen Demand, COD=Chemical Oxygen Demand , Oil=Oil and Lubricant Discharges, SS-Suspended Solids, Metal=Heavy Metals

From the load estimates in Table 8, government can determine the desired degree of reductions necessary to achieve various water quality objectives. If the most significant pollutants are those associated with industrial effluents then the control efforts should be concentrated on the industrial discharges. On the other hand, if the causes are a mixture of municipal and industrial pollution, then it is necessary to control both types of effluent. This value of improving the receiving water quality is considered a net economic benefit. These tables show that pollution varies by region according to specific effluents. As an example, oil and lubricants, suspended solids and heavy metal pollution is highest in the Greater Cairo region, while for BOD and COD, Alexandria has the highest levels. Water samples from Greater Cairo shows that discharges of oil and lubricants exceed 93 tonnes/day and suspended solids 97 tonnes/day. Contamination of heavy metals is also concentrated in areas surrounding industrial areas. Due to the slow transit rate of heavy metals through the ground, this problem will likely be more evident in the future.

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Regulations are proposed by the Ministry to prohibit waste disposal sites and limitations to heavy metal concentration to effluent water used for irrigation. One way to explain these differences is to examine the source of pollutants by industry sector and then identify where the different plants are located. As a start, it is useful to compare pollution loads by industry sector (Table 9). Table 9. Yearly water consumption, effluent volumes, and polluting loads for industry throughout Egypt

Industry Chemical Food Spinning and Weaving Engineering Metal/ Metallurgy Mining Total

Water mcm/ year No. Use EF 53 127 98 119 296 227 75 114 88

Pollution Loads (tonnes/day) BOD COD Oil SS Metals 26 178 23 33 0.94 182 142 110 168 0.17 39 47 24 64 0.3

39 11

13 69

12 60

5 15

6.6 14

2 8

3 24

0.03 0.2

33 330

19 638

14 499

3 270

1 388.6

1 168

4 296

0.01 1.65

Source: Nile Research Institute, 1995 Notes: No.= number of plants, EF=Effluent Volumes, BOD=Biological Oxygen Demand, COD=Chemical Oxygen Demand, Oil=Oil and Lubricant Discharges, SS-Suspended Solids, Metal=Heavy Metals

Clearly, the food processing industry is the largest contributor to pollution loads, followed by the chemical industry and spinning and weaving (textiles). These are the sectors that government must target to improve water quality in the Nile River and other freshwater bodies. Since most industry is located in the Greater Cairo area, this is the one geographic area for government to focus on for water quality improvements. To reduce pollution within the Cairo area and provide the potential for effluent and sludge reuse in agriculture, an extensive sewerage network and six major treatment plants have been established. Three are located on the East Bank, two on the West Bank, and one at Helwan. Total treatment capacity is expected to reach 3,280,000 m3/day (National Water Quality Conservation Unit 1995). Water quality monitoring within Egypt started with the Egypt Water Quality Impact Assessment, Phase I (Pride 1992; Kelly 1994). Water quality information are being collected through the National Monitoring Water Quality program by the National Water Research Center. Water quality is presently measured on the Nile River, sewage water, mesqas (or field channels), and ground water.

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Agricultural: In the Phase I Report on Egypt Water Quality Impact Assessment (PRIDE 1992) agriculture was identified as a major cause of water pollution. Sources of pollution include changes in level of salinity, and poorly regulated use of pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers. It has been estimated that 2.3 bm3 of drainage is returned to the Nile annually (National Water Quality Conservation Unit 1995). Nitrate concentrations have increased because of intensive use of fertilizers and treated effluents for irrigation. An average of 0.2-1.0 mg/liter per year will further exacerbate the problem. The Ministry of Environment has prepared regulations on effluent irrigation to limit nitrate concentration. As for aquifers, chemical and microbial pollutants, nitrates, heavy metals and toxic organic compounds are sources of contamination. Over-pumping ground water further exacerbates groundwater deterioration by increasing the concentration of pollutants. Over time, this can render the ground water unsuitable for agriculture irrigation. Presently, about one tenth of the water needed for agriculture is too polluted for safe farming application, and therefore flows into the Mediterranean Sea after a single use.

Domestic: The constituents of domestic effluents to water resources are pathogens, nutrients, suspended solids, salts, and oxygen demanding material. It is estimated that municipal and industrial water requirement may exceed 15 bm3 annually by 2025, which suggests that these needs will compete with agricultural water demands (World Bank 1993). Using water more than once is possible only if the water quality permits reclamation. Thus industrial, agricultural and municipal wastewater must meet acceptable pollution standards, which then allow recycling. The most limiting factor as mentioned above for safe reuse is the discharge of municipal and industrial waste water with inadequate or no treatment.

3.4 Problem: Institutional Failure River Water: Egypt’s irrigation system extends for 1,200 km below Aswan to the Mediterranean Sea, and is served by 31,000 km of public canals, 80,000 km of mesqas and 17,000 km of public drains. The supply system is designed, operated and maintained by the Ministry of Public Works and Water Resources (MPWWR) through 24 Directorates, 51 Inspectorates and 196 Districts. At the national level, the MPWWR controls, allocate and distribute water from the Aswan Dam. An annual schedule of water requirements is estimated ahead of the agricultural year with allocations identified to the sectors and the 24 directorates. Irrigation planning begins at the branch canal level and determines water release from the main canal. Irrigation Directors, inspectors and district engineers carry out operations at the directorate level of the undersecretary. Water quantities are delivered at the main supply canals according to the Irrigation Sector Plan. Main canals deliver water to the individual governorates. District engineers operate the mesqa gates and farmers lift water from mesqa by water wheels or diesel pumps to irrigate their fields. The MPWWR determine gate settings and barrage levels that will deliver water. However, there is a growing need for improved water distribution cooperation and farmers involvement to ensure efficiency by timely delivery in proper amounts to maximize production, reduce pollution to drains so water standards meet

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requirements for reuse. The present system is slow and bureaucratic. More important, access to irrigation water is a legal right. There is a need to support participatory efforts to manage water resources to better coordinate management of water between sectors. Rights of use and devolution of power to local governorates is a necessity. Irrigation is the major concern. Government recognizes current problems and is working to change the system based on realistic assessment of available resources and needs, minimizing water waste by efficient use, and protecting sources from pollution. Aquifers: The flow of ground water is difficult to regulate and monitor, which makes ground water more difficult to understand and manage than surface water. Therefore it is necessary to develop a water management plan based on a realistic assessment of available water resources, sustainable levels of extraction, and water needs. The plan should minimize water waste by more efficient use, protect sources from pollution, and account for modernization of existing well sand drainage systems. Two major issues for management are over-drafting and ground water contamination. Over-drafting occurs when ground water is pumped from the aquifer faster than it is recharged. Ground water contamination can happen anywhere when pollutants are accidentally released on or below the land surface (Thompson 1999).

3.5 Problem: Property Rights The 1992 World Development Report summarized and recommended a number of methods by which the protection, promotion and use of environmental natural resources can be brought into the orbit of economic reasoning (World Bank 1992). According to Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration, the targets will then be translated into policy measures aimed at institutional reforms, such as the establishment of property rights and improvement of the functions of markets (Principle 16). The clear definition and enforcement of efficient property rights is therefore needed to ensure the existence of markets because in absence of a market there is not a clearing price. Efficient property rights meet three specific requirements (Tietenberg 2000): • •

•

Exclusive: All benefits and costs from owning and using the resource should accrue to one owner. This avoids problems of multiple owners competing for the resource and not investing in sustainable management practices. Transferable: All the property rights must be transferable from one owner to another through lease, sale, or bequest in a voluntary exchange. This avoids the problem of owners not investing in resource improvements because of uncertainty about capturing future benefits. Enforceable: Property rights should be secure from involuntary seizure or encroachment by others. Where property rights cannot be enforced or where the threat of expropriation is high, owners may not invest in resource improvements and conservation.

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4.0 Solutions 4.1 Property Rights Property rights must be well defined to specify restrictions and obligations, secure in challenge to ownership and risk of appropriation, enforce fines and transferable via sale to the highest value use. When property rights are not efficient, water allocation can become an open-access system with no seller that could demand a price and no buyer that is willing to pay a price. Even when consumption increases, the price remains zero, leading to rapid resource depletion and the inefficient use (Panayotou 1997). A welldefined system of property rights provides incentives for efficient resource use and investments in sustainable management practices. Market failure can occur if one or more of these requirements are absent. While efficient property rights in themselves do not guarantee better management in all cases (Pearce 1990), they are generally accepted as a prerequisite for efficient markets for natural resources such as water. 4.2 Price System The perception of markets is important. To ensure proper management (whether partially regulated or not), an estimate of the value of water and its depletion is needed. The distinction between use value and non-use value is important. Use values are held by people who derive benefits from using the water resource. These in turn can be classified into direct and indirect use values. Direct use values often have consumptive and nonconsumptive elements. For example, natural forests can be consumed by people for fuelwood (consumptive), or alternatively enjoyed for recreation (non-consumptive). In the context of water in Egypt, the majority of direct use values would be consumptive. Indirect use values refer to the functional or ecological service benefits generated by the environment. In this case, water plays a vital role in the hydrological cycle, modifying local climate, providing a habitat for aquatic biodiversity, etc. Non-use values include option values (retaining the option of future development of water resources), bequest value (being able to pass on water resources to future generations, and existence values (just knowing that water resources exist) (Markandya 1992). Putting a monetary figure on some of these values is not easy, but various methods have been developed within environmental economics to do so. The principle objective of valuation is to estimate what people are willing-to-pay to continue enjoying these benefits. Thus, the value of water to the user is the maximum amount the user would be willing to pay for the use of the resource. The benefits that people perceive and the costs they incur from water use will determine the rate at which these resources are consumed. These costs and benefits depend not only on the size and composition of the resource base but also on the institutional structure. If markets are operating efficiently, a market price will reflect the balance between supply and demand that maximizes consumer welfare. Intuitively, where there is a market price for water, users should have a stronger incentive to protect these resources (Dasgupta et al 2000). In Egypt, the supply of water is relatively inelastic and elasticity changes at different points along the water demand curve. The rate at which demand changes as price changes is called the price elasticity of demand. Economic theory says demand is more inelastic 16

for necessities and more elastic for luxury goods (Thompson 1999). Figure 2 shows how water demand curve becomes inelastic at high prices but at very low prices, it becomes perfectly elastic as demand becomes infinite showing misuse of water.

Figure 2. Water demand elasticity. Pw

D

D1

Supply

SUPPLY Marginal Costs

S

Demand inelastic DEMAND Marginal Benefit

Deadweight Losses = Increase in costs Increase in benefits

Demand elastic

Qw D1

In Egypt, irrigation water is largely a public good with an administered price and guaranteed access rights. This means water supply and demand are not in equilibrium and price cuts x-axis (Figure 2). With the expected increase in demand for water in Egypt over time, demand will rise from Do to D1; the increase in costs exceeds the increase in benefits implying a high dead weight loss. Establishing an optimum price and as part of more efficient water allocation will become an increasingly important challenge. From the Figure, if we are working on the elastic part of the demand curve, the clearing price must rise as shown to cover the cost of the resource. The objective of pricing resources is to have efficient prices and according to the law of demand, when the price of water increases demand for water use should decrease. There are two ways to meet this decrease in water use: increase efficiency of water use, or farmers can leave land uncultivated, implying that some farmers will leave the sector. One counterargument against market prices for water is that farmers cannot afford higher input costs because of below-world market farm-gate prices presently received for production. Thus it is argued that if farmers pay for irrigation water directly, the price should be below market levels to offset the low prices received for production. At the same time however, farmers would

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still have to rationalize operations either by increasing productivity, growing highervalued crops, using water more efficiently, or striving to meet all three objectives simultaneously. It follows that Egypt is faced with a challenge of how to allocate water use among sectors or among crops. One simple approach for policy-makers is to compare the change in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per unit of water use in sectors (Table 10). Table 10. Sector Share of GDP and Water Use Sector

Agriculture 98/99 99/00 45.5 47.3

Industry 98/99 51.3

Share of GDP (%)

16.95

16.55

Water consumption (66.75,67.6 bm3 respectively)

56

Share of water consumption (%)

84

GDP (268.43,285.85 billion LE respectively)

Change in GDP per unit of water used (million $/bm3)

99/00 56.2

Services 98/99 87

99/00 93.6

19.11

19.66

32.41

32.74

55.2

6.7

7.6

4.05

4.5

81.7

10

11.2

6

6.7

-2.25

5.4

16.5

(Source: Compiled from Table 1 and Central Bank of Egypt Annual report 99/00 ).

One conclusion from Table 10 could be that the service sector should receive priority for water allocations. Clearly, the service sector generates approximately 14 times as much GDP per unit of water input than agriculture and almost 3 times as much as industry. However, this approach assumes that water allocations in one sector will be cost-free to other sectors. In reality these other sectors must make reductions in water demand to offset increased demand in the service sector within the overall supply limitations.

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Another policy analysis approach is that water could be allocated to the sector where the benefits (for example from increased GDP) out-weigh the costs of reduced availability in the other sectors. In this case, switching water to services from agriculture might not be optimal when costs are accounted for. Here it should also be noted that results could differ if the efficiency of water use is increased, for example using more efficient application systems such as sprinkle systems or drip irrigation, laser leveling of fields, etc. This method could also be used within a sector to compare water use in old vs. new land, and crop selections, which implies where best to direct the water. We are faced with the problem of how to shift the supply curve (increase the supply of water) higher than the incremental increase in demand so that the clearing price would be relatively constant. For Egypt, options to shift the supply curve include completing the construction of the Jonglei canal, using more ground water, or by conserving water as mentioned earlier. Supply will therefore increase from S1 to S2 (figure 2). If demand increases in the future, the price would increase. Policy makers will be able to balance future water needs with water supply by estimating the future water demand, Q=aPe where: Q and p are quantity of water used and price a is a constant e is the price elasticity Alternatively, the simplest method is to multiply population change by the per capita water use (Thompson 1999). With aquifers, there are externalities between different users; increased consumption by one user will reduce the availability of water to others. Unless there is a single owner of the aquifer, these externalities will result in inefficiencies. However, if there is a single owner, we could either have a private monopoly with prices higher than under competitive markets, or a government agency tending to charge prices lower than under competitive markets. There is an inherent conflict between the most natural ways of assigning property rights. Can this be resolved? (Maler) Idelovitch and Ringskog (1995) identified problems with publicly operated water supply and sanitation systems; low quality service, poor maintenance, wasteful use, and inefficient public service monopolies. Even if the Egyptian system is well managed, broader participation in operating these utilities is essential. A final question is what kind of institutions would best protect water resources? In other words, are markets inadequate for protecting the environment? The main answer is that markets presently do not exist and the lack of a market reflects the fact that the resource has historically been a free good. This is certainly the case for water irrigation in Egypt. For aquifers, their physical nature makes private property rights even more impractical and hinders markets from being established. Dasgupta et al (2000) further gives additional reasons as to the assumption of linearity or nonlinearity (non-convex processes) in transformation possibilities. With respect to bequest value, peoples’ concern

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for their own well-being cheats future generations, implying that market failures involve not only misallocation of resources in the present but also across time.

4.3 Decentralizing water services How does a water market compare as a resource allocation method to government controlled allocation? Thompson identified market vs. government allocation in terms of five characteristics, showing that markets can do some things better than government and vise versa. Economists in general prefer market mechanisms (Table 11). Table 11. Characteristics of private vs. public market mechanisms

Private Market Public Market

Security of ownership X

Flexibility

Fairness

X

X

Capturing all costs X

Social responsibility

X

X

Source: Compiled from Thompson, 1999

Moreover when irrigation management is transferred to the private market, irrigation users will have the greatest incentive to resolve some problems. Grenfeld and Sun (1997) showed the impacts from three perspectives: farmers, government and irrigation agency perspective (Table 11). Table 11. Positive and negative impacts from private market water management Positive Impacts 1. Farmer Perspective Sense of ownership Improved maintenance Improved irrigation service Reduced conflicts among users Increased agriculture productivity

Negative Impacts Higher costs More time needed for management Less secure water rights

2. Government Perspective Reduced costs to government Less staffing level Less costs to economy (debt)

No control on cropping patterns Unemployment Reduced ability to implement agricultural policies

3. Irrigation agencies New responsibilities

Reduced bureaucratic and political influence Reduced control over water resources

Reduced political interference Reduced operation and maintenance staff levels Source: Grenfeld and Sun, 1997

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Externalities, transaction costs, and effectiveness are the major causes of market failure in irrigation. Externalities are defined as uncompensated costs or benefits incurred by one party by virtue of activities of another party. These can be either positive or negative. As an example, positive externalities could include recycling, evaporation, and recharging aquifers. Negative externalities could include pollution of water resources by one group in society that impacts on water treatment costs downstream for other users. Transaction costs occur through time and effort spent to correct market failure, for example in regulatory or legislative issues that are settled by various processes.

5.0 MODEL The following introduces a partial equilibrium model to analyze the demand for irrigation water thus allocating water among regions or crops depending on efficient water use The algebraic representation of this problem is present in the following format:

Qwk = f (R k /PW k), Rk = ( TVk-TCk) /Ak , PW k= ( ICk+Mk+SP) TVk = ∑ Pjk Yjk ,

k =1… n k=1… n

TCk = VCk+ rk , VIk= ∑ wik xik ,

k=1… n k=1… n

nk

k=1… n

J=1

mk

i =1

where:

Qwk area Rk TVk TCk VIk rk Ak PWk ICk Mk

: Quantity of water that is economically delivered, in crop k : Net Return value per unit of land, in crop area k : Total value of Crop Production, in crop area k : Total Cost in crop area k : Variable value of all inputs in crop area k : Rental value in crop area k : Harvested Area for crop area k : Price of Water in crop area k : Irrigation cost in crop area k : Maintenance and Operation cost in crop area k 21

P Wk Pjk Yjk wik xik mk nk

: Price of irrigation water in crop area k : Water Use in crop area k : Average farm gate price of crop j, in crop area k : Yield of crop j, in crop area k : Price of input I , in crop area k : Quantity of input I, in crop area k : No. of inputs in crop area : No. of crops in crop area k

About Data, data sources and method used Data is classified by region; which is the percentage of region area to total country area that represent 64%, 21%, 15% for Lower, Middle, Upper Egypt respectively in winter as opposed to 64%, 18% and 18% for the same regions in summer. Upper Egypt includes Asyut, Suhag, Qena, Aswan and Luxor. Lower Egypt include Alexandria, Behariah, Gharbia, Kafr El Sheikh, Dakahlia, Damietta, Sharkia, Ismalia and Port Said. Middle Egypt includes Giza, BeniSuef, Fayoum and Menia. Other denotes the remote regions of: New Valley, Matruh, North Sinai, South Sinai and Noubariah. Water use represents 59%, 23% and 18% for Lower , Middle and Upper Egypt in winter as compared to 64%, 15% and 21 % in summer respectively.

Crops are cultivated according to seasons. During winter season (September to November) about 10 billion meter3 of water equivalent to 29% of the total water is used in irrigation in 46% of the total harvested area (5292 thousand feddans). The most important crops cultivated during this season are wheat, clover, beet and beans. The summer season (February to May) uses 21 billion meter cube of water equivalent to 59% of the total water used in 45% of total harvested area (5 million feddans). Summer crops cultivated are mainly cotton, sugar cane, rice and maize. Assuming that the prevailing irrigation technology is efficient, this model will concentrate on Lower region comparing between two crops in the same season, wheat and onion in winter and cotton and rice in summer. This analysis is valid for any comparative assessment of crops/regions as will be shown. Sources of data are mainly from the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation Economic Affairs Sector, for the years 1999 and 2000. For the identities in the model, data were compiled using Excel, then the General Algebraic Modeling (GAMS) was used to help choose between two crops, two regions or help decision makers get environmental pricing in the picture that would optimize net return per unit price of water. In GAMS, the technology adopted is a follows: indices are

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called sets, given data are called parameters, decision variables are called variables and constraints and the objectives are called equations (see appendix 1). In the following section an econometrically estimable model of water use is developed in the context of alternative strategies for cultivating crops/regions. It is assumed that land owners attempt to maximize their return where Quantity of water used are thus functions of relative returns from alternative uses (i.e. At the margin where water is scarce, the land owner will be faced with a decision to either use water to cultivate wheat or beet or allocate water in Lower or Upper Egypt). In a simple demand function (see model in section 5), the economic question is what is the minimum amount of water that is technologically and economically efficient (MR=MC) that will maximize the net return per unit price of water. We started with partial equilibrium. The results indicate that it is not optimal to cultivate cotton in the lower region in summer compared to rice. It is preferable to cultivate rice in the delta even though rice consumes relatively a higher amount of water but it is a higher valued crop. The model shows that water goes to the higher valued crop. In trying to improve the use and distribution of scarce water, relevant policies were tried. For example in the first run we assumed that the subsidized price (P) for farmers is equal to zero, then, an incremental increase of 5% then 10% were used to see by how much can price of water be raised keeping optimal solutions. The price interaction in the economy showed that higher prices provide incentives to use less water; the objective value was reduced from 16311 to 15535 and 14828 at 5% and 10% respectively. A run was done between onions and wheat in order to compare between export revenue and self sufficiency, onions is considered an important export crops and wheat constitutes 95% of imports, the results showed that it is not optimal to cultivate onion, cultivating wheat gives optimal level with respect to the quantity of water but if price is increased by 5%, the level will reach 28.2800 in comparison to 7.8150 at zero subsidized price With respect to wheat and beet in lower region in the winter season, it is advisable to cultivate wheat, a subsidized price indicated high water use 39.16, 22.24 and 5.32 for a 10%,5% increase and zero price. The question that comes up: is what kind of incentives that could induce farmers to cultivate wheat even at higher prices and at a suboptimal solution which raises another question of whether this additional cost could be covered or not?

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6.0 CONCLUSIONS Water in developing countries and especially in Egypt is deeply rooted in social perceptions and culture. There is a need to change from the traditional perception that water is a free resource and is a right, which lead to improper water allocation, rigid forms of management and inefficient practices to one that treats water as a valuable economic good. The study revealed the existence of a growing scarcity of freshwater resources in Egypt. Water from both the Nile River and aquifers is a communally owned resource, with supply being managed by local governments on behalf of the central government. Moving from a system where water is a free public good with guaranteed access; to one where water is allocated and priced through private markets is one solution to emerging supply deficits. Not only surface water but also ground water is used for supplies. By how much can we determine the amount of water for allocation when ground water is a difficult resource to manage is still an important question that must be addressed? Priority issues in the study tackled allocation and quality where necessary reductions of effluents are needed to achieve water quality objectives. Water quality and scarcity dictates the need for special approaches i.e. new water management policies integrating supply/demand, as well as quantity/quality objectives. Since the demand for water is generally increasing with population growth and economic development, it is important to improve the use and distribution of scarce water resources. The present study addresses relevant policies. For example, assuming technical efficiency, how much water is needed and for which crops/regions? Results showed that it is not optimal to cultivate one of the crops but if for any reason the policy makers prefer to go to a sub-optimal solution, it gives the relevant cost but such principles of economic efficiency are always politically stressful which is considered a sub optimal solution. Subsidized irrigation water contributed to the high use. The Model shows that if water is priced, water will go to the relatively high -valued crops to ensure return. Still, efficient markets require that farmers bear costs and benefits of transfer which requires a welldefined transferable property rights. Moreover, coordination between government and water association must care for water quality In the current institutional structure, there are professional water managers in government but there is a necessity for more public involvement. Already there is public participation (water user association) in defining the problems of water irrigation, but a need for more public meetings, advisory groups and questionnaire surveys should be done to strengthen the institutional framework supporting water allocation and management. As part of improving water allocation and management, water conservation must also be strengthened. Water conservation is not only about recycling, but also switching to more efficient water application systems (sprinkle systems or drip irrigation, laser leveling of

24

fields, providing the correct amount of water as well as using excess water to recharge ground water supplies). Further, since recycling is an important element of water supply in Egypt, it is critical that pollution is reduced from agricultural, industrial and domestic sources. This would allow a greater volume of water to be used more than once before it reaches the sea. Economic incentives have a strong role to play in addressing water pollution. In addition to pricing water, agriculture regulation and the acquisition of property rights for preservation can play an important part in the system of coordinating efficient water allocation. Efficient markets also require well defined transferable property rights which is a pre-requisite for market forces to take place. Also the creation of price incentives for water conservation to strike a balance between supply and demand leading to a more efficient use of water . Having given a clear picture of available water resources, and in areas of marginal water supplies (i.e. whether additional supplies are small and water will have lower quality) The following policy reform key elements should be implemented: -Management of irrigation system through the participation of government and wateruser associations. -Legal safeguarding of water rights. -Implementation of solutions must be on a case-by-case study in-order to find the true cost to the society to encourage or discourage particular uses, thus creating incentives for individuals to operate in the common good. Other issues that could be studied includes - What are the incentives that would induce farmers to cultivate wheat until we reach self sufficiency in wheat. - How to reduce the cost incurred by if the target of cultivating wheat is greater than export revenue of another export crop -What is the feasibility of using low quality water? - Can water be traded and how to get environmental pricing into the picture - How does water pricing institutionalize / enforce demand management - What impacts will that have on soil, health safety? - How best to link ground water and surface water. - How sect oral uses and trends are projected.

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Works Cited & Bibliography 1. Abou Zeid, M. (1992), “Major Issues in Egypt’s Water Resources and Irrigation Policy”. Egypt. 2. Al Mahdy, Al Sadek, (2000), Nile Water “Myiah Al Neel: Al Waed wa Al Waeed”. Ahram Publisher. Cairo. 3. Dasgupta, Partha, Simon Levin and Jane Lubchenco. (2000), “Economic Pathways to Ecological Sustainability”. Bioscience. Vol: 50. EBSCOHOST Online. Academic Search Elite. 4. El Gohary, Fatma. (1993), “Comparitative Environmental Risks in Cairo, Water Pollution Problem”. Pride Vol 3 Reports by Egyptian Consultants, USAID. 5. El Zanaty & Associates. (1998), “Knowledge Attitudes and Practices (KPA) of Egyptian Farmers towards Water Resources”. A National Survey Green COM. Egypt III of the Water Policy Reform Program. 6. EPIQ. (1998), “Egypt Environment Sector Assessment”. Final Report Vol. 1 7. Farid, S and Albert Tuinhof. (1999), “Groundwater Development Planning In the Desert Fringes Of The Nile Delta”. 8. Greenfield, D and P Sun. (1997), “Demand Management of Irrigation Systems through Users Participation”. E & FN Spon. London. 9. Hefny, Kamal et al. (1999), “Groundwater Assessment in Egypt”. 10. Kelly, R. and Welsh,W. (1994), Egypt Water Quality Management Action Plan: Phase II, PRIDE 11. Khouzam, Raouf F. (1996), “Economic Incentives to Promote the Abatement of Nile Pollution”. ECES. Egypt. 12. Khouzam, Raouf F. (1995), “Economic Policy Alternatives to Control Nile Pollution from Agricultural, Industrial and Municipal Activities. ECES. Egypt. 13. Laslett, R. (1997), “The Economics of Regulation in Water Supply: Irrigation and Drainage”. E & FN Spon. London. 14. Markandya, Anil and Julie Richardson. (1992), “The Economics of the Environment: An Introduction”. Earthscan Publications. U.K.

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15. Mellor, John W. (1999), “The Impact of Agricultural Growth on Employment in Egypt”. APRP. Egypt. 16. Ministry of Public Works and Water resources (MPWWR), National Water Research Center. (1996), “National Level Strategies and Policies for Utilizing Egypt’s Water Resources”. WRSR publication series. 17. Ministry of Public Works and Water resources (NPWWR), Water Communication Unit. (1999), “Water: Egypt’s Situation”. Green COM Project, USAID. 18. Ministry of Water Resources. (2000), Irrigation, Planning Sector. 19. National Water Quality Conservation Unit (NWQCU). (1995), “Assessment of Water Quality Hazards in Egypt”. 20. National Specialized Council (NSC). (1992), “The Policy of Protecting the Nile River from Pollution”. 1974-1992. Vol 18. 21. Panayotou, Theodore. (1997), “Privatization of Environmental Infrastructure”. EEPA Workshop. 22. Pearce, D.W, and R.K, Turner (1990), “Economics of Natural Resources and the Environment”. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. 23. Perry, C.J, M. Rock and D. Seckler. (1997), “Water as an Economic Good: A Solution or a Problem”. E & FN Spon. London. 24. PRIDE, (1992). “Egypt Water Quality, Impact Assessment: Phase I”, submitted to USAID/ Egypt 25. Research Institute for Ground Water (RIGW). (1992), “Water Security in Egypt”. Quanater. Egypt. 26. Scot E. Smith and Hussam Al Rawahy. (1991), “Water allocation in Egypt: A Contemporary Assessment of an Ancient Problem Feature”. Articles Vol.34, no 4 589. 27. Shata A. (1987), “Management Problems of the Major Regional Aquifer in N.E. Africa”. UN Tech Workshop. Khartoum. 28. Tebbutt, T.H.Y. (1998), “Principles of Water Quality Control”. Butterworth Heinemann. Oxford. 29. Thompson, Stephen A. (1999), “Water Use, Management, And Planning In The United States”. Academic Press. San Diego.

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30. Tietenberg T. (2000), “Environmental and Natural Resource Economics”, Fifth Edition, Colby College: Harper Collins Publishers. 31. UNDP (1992), “Strategies for Sustainable Development in Egypt”. Cairo. 32. USAID. (1994), “Environmental Assistance to Egypt Status report.” 33. World Bank. (2000), “World Development Report 2000/ 2001”. 34. World Bank. (1993), “Arab Republic of Egypt: Water and Waste Water Sector Study, Infrastructure Division Report”.

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