PROJECT INFORMATION DOCUMENT (PID)

CONCEPT STAGE
Report No.: AB6192
Project Name EG-Enhanced Water Resources Management
Region MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA
Sector General water, sanitation and flood protection sector (100%)
Project ID P118090
GEF Focal Area International waters
Borrower(s) GOVERNMENT OF EGYPT
Implementing Agency
Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation
Cornich El Nil Imbaba, Imbaba
Giza
Egypt, Arab Republic of
Tel: (20-2) 3544-9447Fax: (20-2) 3544-9449
Environment Category [ ] A [] B [ ] C [ ] FI [X ] TBD (to be determined)
Date PID Prepared January 28, 2011
Estimated Date of June 30, 2011
Appraisal Authorization
Estimated Date of Board October 31, 2011
Approval

1. Key development issues and rationale for Bank involvement

Egypt is the most downstream country of the 10 riparian countries in the Nile basin. Egypt’s
share of the Nile water is 55.5 billion m3 according to the 1959 agreement with Sudan. The Nile
water represents about 98% of the country’s renewable fresh water resources since rain falls only
on the Mediterranean coastal strip in winter as erratic showers. Groundwater in the Delta and the
Valley aquifers is recharged by the excess irrigation water as well as seepage from the Nile River
and the irrigation distribution network. The current population in Egypt is about 80 million and
its annual growth rate is about 2.0%. Egypt is already a water stressed country with a per capita
fresh water share of about 700 m3/year. If the current population growth continues, the per capita
share is expected to drop to about 300 m3/year in year 2050. Moreover, it is predicted that the
climate change may significantly reduce the availability of the Nile water and thus increasing the
vulnerability of the country to water stresses.
Egypt‘s agricultural land is only about 4% of the total area of the country, mainly consisting of
the Nile Delta and the narrow valley along the Nile River. However, it is one of the world’s most
intensively irrigated areas with highly diversified crop production. Since the current agricultural
water use efficiency is generally low, the reuse of return flows collected by agricultural drainage
networks and recovering the deep percolation losses by pumping of groundwater have become
extremely important elements of water resources management in Egypt to fill in the gap between
the supply and demand.
While approximately 80% of the urban population is connected to public sewerage systems, only
26% of the rural population is receiving the sewerage service. The discharge of insufficiently
treated industrial/municipal waste water from some urban centers and inadequate sewerage
coverage in rural areas have led to alarming degradation of water quality in the agricultural
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drainage networks and groundwagter aquifers. As a consequence, the contaminated water in the
Delta poses a significant constraint on water availability and forms a serious health risk through
the reuse of drainage water and pumping contaminated groundwater, in addition to polluting the
Mediterranean Sea. Local governments, communities and farmers are aware of this risk and
willing to participate in a project reducing pollution in the drains in the Delta.
The Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation (MWRI) is mandated to develop and manage
Egypt’s surface and groundwater resources and their infrastructure. The National Water
Research Center, which is the research arm of the MWRI, is a well developed and established
research base carrying out applied research and water monitoring responsibilities. Their activities
are based on the two laws: (i) Irrigation Law 12/1984 governing and regulating the use of the
water as well as the operation of the irrigaiton and drainage systems; and (ii) Water Quality Law
48/1982 regulating discharges into the Nile River and other waterways to control pollution.
While MWRI is institutionally responsible for the protection and management of Egypt’s water
quality, the responsibilities of other Ministries are well defined by these laws. Egypt is currently
implementing a number of policy and institutional reforms in the water sector as well as a
number of projects that promote the principles of integrated water resources management
(IWRM) though mainly from sectoral perspectives.
The proposed GEF project has been included in the Mediterranean Environmental Sustainable
Development Program (Sustainable MED), whose objective is to enhance and accelerate the
implementation of transboundary pollution reduction, improved water resources mnmagement,
and biodiversity conservation measures in priority hotspots and sensitive areas of selected
countries of the Mediterranean basin. Nile River basin has been selected as the project area in
Egypt because it is located within the Mediterranean basin and the proposed GEF project would
help accelerate the reduction of water pollution in the Nile Delta which is draining polluted water
into the Mediterranean Sea. This GEF project will assist the Government of Egypt (GOE) to
capitalize on the recent developments in the country which underscore its commitment and
political willingness to sustainably manage its scarce water resources through IWRM, contribute
to restore and preserve the health of the Mediterranean Sea, and strengthen Egypt’s resilience to
climate change.
The proposed GEF project is consistent with the second Strategic Objective of the current
Egypt’s Country Assistance Strategy (May 2005). One long term goal related thereto is to
“improve air and water quality and reduce water loss”. The project is also consistent with the
Sustainable MED, the Strategic Action Program for the Conservation of Mediterranean Marine
and Coastal Biological Diversity (SAP BIO) and the GEF IW-SP 2&3 strategic priorities.
2. Proposed objective(s)
The project development objective is to improve water resources management by enhancing the
capacity and knowledge of the government agencies in water sector in Egypt. This will be
achieved through: (i) development and testing of pilot schemes for improving synergy and
coordination among project management units and government agencies implementing water
projects by promoting the IWRM principles and strengthening the role of stakeholders at the
lowest possible administrative level including local authorities, water user organizations, women,
and NGOs; and (ii) support for the institutional and technical capacity and knowledge of the
government agencies to monitor and manage the available surface water and groundwater more
effectively and efficiently across the sectoral borders by provision of monitoring equipment,
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capacity building training, and targeted studies on water management and monitoring procedures
including the climate change impacts.
The global objective of this project is to establish the basis for scaling up investments through
the Government’s IWRM plan and contribute more significantly to depollution and improved
ecosystem health of the Mediterranean Sea and its biodiversity resources. It is expected that the
successful operationalization of the IWRM approach and principles in pilot schemes will
demonstrate the benefits of synergy of the ongoing investment projects and will be replicated in
the Nile Delta, which will result in increased water use efficiency, and improved water quality
and livelihood of the poor; which would eventually have a great impact on reducing the pollution
load flowing into the Mediterranean Sea (the objective of Sustainable MED).

3. Preliminary description
The proposed Project will comprise the following three components:

Component 1: Pilot Schemes (GEF - US$1,200,000; GOE – US$2,960,000)

The GEF project is expected to further improve coordination, complementarities, and integration
across the ongoing water sector projects1 in Egypt. Investments from these projects will be re-
directed and supported by the GEF project 2 to demonstrate synergy of the integration of these
sectoral efforts in pilot schemes in the Nile Delta. This integrated approach is expected to lead to
more efficient and effective water resources management, which will result in (i) reduction of
transaction costs for the GOE, the Bank, and GEF to implement activities as economies of scale
will be harnessed, (ii) maximization of the investment benefits as synergy of the investments will
be generated, and (iii) acceleration of desemination of lessons and knowledge learned from pilot
activities promoted through the GEF project.
Under this component, pilot areas will be selected to improve surface water and groundwater
quality mangement and pollution control through applying the principles of IWRM. The GEF
project will help plan and establish the most efficient sequence of coordinating activities to be
implemented by the participating projects including consultation and participation of WUAs and
beneficiaries, monitor and evaluate the implementation process, and establish successful
procedures for future replication of this IWRM approach in the Nile Delta. The GEF project will
also provide intensive training for government staff as well as stakeholders at the lowest possible
administrative level including local authorities, WUAs, women, and NGOs in order to facilitate
decentralized IWRM.
(i) Surface water pilot scheme (GEF - US$700,000; GOE – US$1,600,000)
This subcomponent will focus on the quality of surface drainage water in the agricultural
drainage networks in the Nile Delta by helping to integrate the innovative technological and
management interventions introduced by each of the on-going projects that target improving
water quality in the agricultural drains in the Nila Delta. Local level IWRM by WUAs will be
1
The Integrated Irrigation Improvement Management Project (IIIMP), the Second National Drainage Project
(NDP2), and the Integrated Sewerage Improvement Project (ISIP). The resources from these projects do not
require change of their scope as the proposed pilot schemes would add on additional benefits to them and help
them to achieve their own development objectives. Pilot schemes located within the overlapping project areas of
the IIIMP, NDP2, and ISIP will build on their already planned interventions.
2
It is estimated that investments of about US$27.6 million from these projects would be re-directed within their
implementation plans to allow execution of the proposed pilot schemes.
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enhanced through intensive technical assistance, capacity development and traing at this pilot
scheme.

(ii) Groundwater pilot scheme (GEF - US$500,000; GOE – US$1,100,000)

This subcomponent will focus on the water quality management of groundwater in the Nile
Delta, and its linkage with the surface water and land use practices by helping to improve water
quality and availability in an area where groundwater is subject to pollution from agricultural,
municipal and industrial sources. Local level groundwater aquifer management as well as
conjunctive use of surface and groundwater by WUAs will be enhanced through intensive
technical assistance, capacity development and training at this pilot scheme.

Component 2: Capacity Building for Surface Water and Groundwater Management

and Monitoring (GEF – US$5,432,000; GOE - US$3,270,000)
The GEF project will also assist the government agencies concerned to strengthen their
institutional and technical capacity and knowledge in monitoring and managing the surface water
and groundwater more effectively and efficiently across the sectoral borders. This will include
provision of monitoring equipment, training and modeling, and carrying out strategic studies
addressing priority issues, to make the most of the available water resources in the Nile River.
(i) carrying out strategic studies that would support implementation of the GOE strategic
objectives for improving water quality and availability;
(ii) strengthening water quality modeling capacity of MWRI to support planning and
decision making related to water management interventions;
(iii) strengthening water quality monitoring of the Nile system (the river and its two main
branches, canals, drains, and Lake Nasser) with emphasis on water quality hot spots
where drainage water is mixed with irrigation canals for reuse and/or discharged into the
Nile River, inland lakes, coastal lakes and the Mediterranean Sea;
(iv) strengthening groundwater monitoring capacity, particularly in regions with vulunerable
and sensitive aquifers; and
(v) setting plans for nationwide registration, protection and management of wells and testing
the proposed plan in the West Delta.
As a result, this component will establish enhanced procedures and improved knowledge for
surface water and groundwater management to increase their availability.

Component 3: Project Management (GEF – US$50,000; GOE - US$450,000)

Considering its broad scope and many stakeholders to be involved in implementaiton of this
project, it is crucial to have an effective project implementation unit (PIU). Also, it is expected
that the project will generate a lot of useful information, improved knowledge and strengthened
capacity for IWRM. In this regard, this component will provide support for PIU and facilitate
knowledge sharing. It will include the following:
(i) Project Implementation Unit (PIU) – investment to strengthen the PIU; and
(ii) IW Learn – a tracking tool for reporting and disseminating lessons learned, and investment
for sharing information at the international water conferences.
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4. Safeguard policies that might apply

Safeguard Policies Triggered by the Project Yes No

Environmental Assessment (OP/BP 4.01) X

Natural Habitats (OP/BP 4.04) X
Pest Management (OP 4.09) X
Physical Cultural Resources (OP/BP 4.11) X
Involuntary Resettlement (OP/BP 4.12) X
Indigenous Peoples (OP/BP 4.10) X
Forests (OP/BP 4.36) X
Safety of Dams (OP/BP 4.37) TBD
Projects in Disputed Areas (OP/BP 7.60)* X
Projects on International Waterways (OP/BP 7.50) X

5. Tentative financing
Source: ($m.)
BORROWER/RECIPIENT 6.68
Global Environment Facility (GEF) 6.68
Local Sources of Borrowing Country 0.00
Bilateral Agencies (unidentified) 0.00
Total 13.36

6. Contact point
Contact: Yoshiharu Kobayashi
Title: Sr. Water Resources Spec.
Tel: (202) 458-2668
Fax: (202) 477-1981
Email: [email protected]

**
By supporting the proposed project, the Bank does not intend to prejudice the final determination of the parties' claims on the
disputed areas