Water Crisis Builds In Egypt

By Staff, Reuters

Egypt fears things could get even worse as Ethiopia starts filling the reservoir behind a giant dam upriver.

Meanwhile, the United States is hosting talks between the countries and their fellow Nile-user Sudan to try to restart stalled talks over the hydropower project.

But even if Washington succeeds where years of trilateral negotiations have failed, Egypt will still have broader water problems that have left it struggling to sustain food production.

Egyptian officials say they currently have around 570 cubic meters of water per person per year - hydrologists consider a country to be facing water scarcity if supplies drop below 1,000 cubic meters per person per year.