To protect the Nile River...a new Egyptian project using artificial intelligence

Listen to the article. The audio text is automated, generated by an automated system

In a new strategic step to protect the Nile River, the Egyptian Council of Ministers agreed to include the national project to control the Nile River and its two branches as a major project within the state budget until the year 2029.

The project aims to restore the river course to its natural state by removing backfill and construction encroachments, and providing an accurate digital database of the river bed and its sides, which contributes to monitoring and analyzing changes that affect the flow of water, and raising the efficiency of river course management and maintenance of its facilities.

The project is also based on main axes, including the preparation of modern digital maps of the bottom and sides of the Nile River and its two branches based on topographical elevation and bathymetric measurements, inventorying and raising public properties related to irrigation, drainage, and river drainage lands, and removing encroachments and violations that affect the river course and the efficiency of water flow.

According to the plan, the Nile River management system will be developed based on data and modern technologies to support achieving the goals of the second generation of the water system 2.0, and enhance Egyptian water security in the long term to face any future repercussions.

In this context, Dr. Ahmed Fawzi Diab, Chief Project and Water Management Officer at the United Nations, stressed that the national project to control the Nile River and its branches is extremely important and necessary. He pointed out in statements to Al Arabiya.net/Al Hadath.net that this type of project is recommended for implementation in all international rivers because of its vital role in protecting countries from the dangers of floods and ensuring the smooth movement of water and its smooth arrival to places of need or the final estuary.

He also stressed that this approach represents an urgent necessity in managing international rivers to reduce the risks of floods and protect countries from damage resulting from disruption of water flows.

For his part, Dr. Abbas Sharaqi, Professor of Geology and Water Resources at Cairo University, explained that following the rise in the Nile water level and the occurrence of a flood in Sudan at the end of September 2025 as a result of mismanagement of the Renaissance Dam and the opening of four drainage gates, the Egyptian government launched a national project to manage and develop the river course, protect it and raise its drainage efficiency. He pointed out that the project aims to create an accurate scientific database using satellites and artificial intelligence to monitor changes in the river bed and its sides, and produce digital maps to improve water management, as well as inventory public lands and properties related to irrigation and drainage of river drainage lands and remove encroachments to restore the Nile River and its two branches, Damietta and Rosetta, to their natural state.

In addition, he stressed that the project will contribute to the maintenance of infrastructure such as bridges and canals, which will help the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation to make accurate decisions to improve the efficiency of water use and reduce the water deficit, which reaches 50% of the original needs, in addition to providing opportunities for the expansion of agricultural projects on the margins of the valley and delta and raising the efficiency of river navigation and the movement of tourist ships by clearing silt deposits.

It is noteworthy that Egypt has historically relied on a fixed share of Nile water amounting to 55.5 billion cubic meters annually in accordance with the 1959 agreement, and faces a water deficit.

Cairo considers the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam a direct strategic threat to Egyptian water security due to Ethiopia’s insistence on filling and operating it unilaterally and the absence of any binding legal agreement, which raises the risks of reduced water flows during years of drought and storage and puts severe pressure on the strategic reserve in Lake Nasser and the High Dam, which has long formed the country’s safety valve. This potential decline has serious repercussions affecting the agricultural and economic sectors, prompting Cairo to adopt a package of huge national projects to hedge and confront the deficit, including maximizing the use of available resources by recycling agricultural wastewater in giant stations, lining canals, modernizing watercourse management and modern monitoring techniques to ensure the sustainability of water security and the protection of Egypt’s historical rights.