{"id":34022,"date":"2026-04-07T12:29:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T10:29:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mwri.gov.eg\/?page_id=34022"},"modified":"2026-04-07T12:40:41","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T10:40:41","slug":"siwa-oasis-development-project","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.mwri.gov.eg\/?page_id=34022&lang=en","title":{"rendered":"Siwa Oasis Development Project"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Siwa Oasis Development Project<\/h1>\n<\/div><\/div>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column]
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Siwa Oasis<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Introduction<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n
    \n
  • Siwa is the oldest, largest, and most important of the Egyptian oases. It covers an area of 1,088 thousand square kilometers and includes 5 villages and their dependencies. It is located about 320 kilometers southwest of Marsa Matrouh.<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • In recent years, the state has placed the Siwa Oasis among its top priorities for development, providing services, and solving its chronic problems, such as the agricultural drainage issue that was threatening the oasis’s lands.<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • Recently, directives from the political leadership have been implemented to find a radical solution to the problem of excess agricultural drainage, which the people of the oasis have suffered from for the past 3 decades, causing damage to crops, soil deterioration, and damage to buildings.<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • The Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation<\/u><\/em> has carried out works to develop the irrigation and drainage system in the Siwa Oasis in order to restore the environmental balance in the oasis, achieve balance between water extraction rates and safe water levels in the agricultural drainage ponds in the oasis, and provide radical solutions to the problem of excessive groundwater extraction and the rise in agricultural drainage water levels in the oasis. This has been done in cooperation with the Engineering Authority of the Armed Forces and professors and researchers from the Faculty of Engineering at Cairo University.<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • This unique project<\/u><\/em> integrates the efforts of the relevant state institutions and the people of the oasis to develop the water system in sustainable ways that take into account all economic, social, and environmental dimensions, achieving stability for the people of the oasis while ensuring the sustainability of the oasis’s water resources for future generations.<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • The current development works<\/u><\/em> aim to provide radical solutions to the problem of increased salinity in the waters of the “fractured limestone aquifer” resulting from random well drilling. This aquifer is the main source of irrigation water in the oasis. It also addresses the issue of increased quantities of agricultural drainage water, which has led to a rise in the groundwater table in the agricultural lands of the oasis, negatively affecting these lands. These problems have existed for 30 years. Therefore, the ministry has begun implementing a plan for the development of the oasis and the upgrading of its pond embankments, wells, and natural springs. Deep wells are being drilled to produce fresh water from the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer to be mixed with the increasingly saline shallow well water, in order to maximize the benefit from available water resources and utilize them in the most optimal way.<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • Works have also been carried out to strengthen, raise, and reinforce several embankments around Lake Siwa to reduce the damage resulting from the rise in water levels over the past years, which negatively affected some agricultural lands, buildings, and tourist facilities located around the lake. The area has begun to recover after lowering the water level in Lake Siwa, which has contributed to the recovery of large areas of farms that had deteriorated in recent years.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • Additionally, works are underway to excavate an open canal to transfer agricultural drainage water from some drains leading to Lake Siwa to the Ein Al-Janbi depression east of the oasis. This canal extends for a distance of 33.70 kilometers. A lifting station (Antafir) is also being constructed to transfer agricultural drainage water from the Antafir, Western Siwa, and Malul drains through a canal 5.70 kilometers long that connects to the open canal.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Environmental Dimensions<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n
      \n
    • Providing radical solutions to the problem of increased salinity in the waters of the “fractured limestone aquifer” resulting from random well drilling, as this aquifer is the main source of irrigation water production in the oasis.<\/strong><\/li>\n
    • Solving the problem of increased quantities of agricultural drainage water, which led to a rise in the groundwater table in the agricultural lands of the oasis, negatively affecting these lands.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Economic Dimensions<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n
        \n
      • Optimal utilization of available water resources, increasing crop production from palm trees and others, expanding the agricultural area, conserving water, and rationalizing its use.<\/strong><\/li>\n
      • Improving living standards, public services, and infrastructure.<\/strong><\/li>\n
      • Providing job opportunities for youth.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        Social Dimensions<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n
          \n
        • Meeting citizens’ demands to solve the agricultural drainage problem.<\/strong><\/li>\n
        • Achieving stability for the people of the oasis while ensuring the sustainability of the oasis’s water resources for future generations.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

          Protocols<\/u> have been established to implement a number of works and structures for developing the irrigation and drainage management system in the Siwa Oasis, with the aim of lowering water levels in the Siwa and Behi El-Din ponds, with a total value of 3 billion Egyptian pounds, to be carried out in three phases as follows<\/strong><\/p>\n

          First Phase<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

          Implementing Agency: Engineering Authority of the Armed Forces (Water Department)
          \nContract Date: 17\/5\/2021
          \nProject Start Date: 1\/12\/2021
          \nProject Value: 700 million Egyptian pounds
          \nExecution Status of the Phase<\/strong><\/p>\n

          1- Completion of drilling 12 production wells at a depth of approximately 1200 meters with a total production capacity of 3200 m\u00b3\/day.<\/strong><\/p>\n

          2- Completion of the construction of 9 distribution networks for irrigation water produced from the deep wells (including the Wafalla well network).<\/strong><\/p>\n

          3- Completion of works to improve the efficiency and rehabilitate the existing irrigation system, which includes:<\/strong><\/p>\n

          \u00a0\u00a0 a- Replacement and renewal of the discharge line with a length of 900 meters for the water level lowering station (for the Aghurmi drain, where the water is reused by pumping it into the lowering reservoir for reuse in agriculture).<\/strong><\/p>\n

          \u00a0\u00a0 b- Rehabilitation of the reservoir of the water level lowering station with a capacity of 1520 m\u00b3 (where agricultural drainage water is mixed with water from a deep production well in the reservoir for reuse in agriculture).<\/strong><\/p>\n

          \u00a0\u00a0 c- Rehabilitation of the Kaf area lifting station, replacement of lifting units, improvement of the efficiency of the 2400 m\u00b3 reservoir, and operation using solar energy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

          4- Completion of works to raise and reinforce the embankments surrounding Lake Siwa for a length of 14 km.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

          5- Work is ongoing to close 212 highly saline shallow wells \u2013 with 121 shallow wells already closed.<\/strong><\/p>\n

          Second Phase<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

          Implementing Agency: Engineering Authority of the Armed Forces (Water Department)
          \nContract Date: 10\/8\/2022
          \nProject Start Date: 10\/11\/2022
          \nProject Value: 1.3 billion Egyptian pounds
          \nExecution Status of the Phase<\/strong><\/p>\n

            \n
          1. Completion of the construction of the lifting station with a capacity of 60 thousand m\u00b3\/day.<\/strong><\/li>\n
          2. Completion of the construction of 2 polyethylene lines with a diameter of 500 mm from the lifting station to the calming basin, with a length of 6 km.<\/strong><\/li>\n
          3. Completion of the construction of a calming basin at the beginning of the open canal.<\/strong><\/li>\n
          4. Completion of excavating an open canal with a length of 34 km up to the Ein Al-Janbi depression.<\/strong><\/li>\n
          5. Completion of lining and directing 4 drains towards the lifting station with a total length of 7.5 km.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            Third Phase<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

            Implementing Agency: Engineering Authority of the Armed Forces (Water Department)
            \nContract Date: 28\/1\/2024
            \nProject Start Date: 1\/4\/2024
            \nProject Value: 1 billion Egyptian pounds
            \nExecution Status of the Phase<\/strong><\/p>\n

              \n
            1. Construction of the Ghazalat lifting station with a capacity of 20 thousand m\u00b3\/day is ongoing.<\/strong><\/li>\n
            2. Execution of the suction and discharge lines for the Ghazalat lifting station is ongoing.<\/strong><\/li>\n
            3. Execution of works to raise and reinforce the embankments (for Siwa and Behi El-Din ponds) with a length of approximately 10 km is ongoing.<\/strong><\/li>\n
            4. Construction of 4 networks and 6 canals with a total length of approximately 110 km is ongoing.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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