Egyptian National Committee of the International Hydrological Program

Egyptian National Committee of the International Hydrological Program (IHP) National Report for the period June 2014 to May 2016 To be presented at 22 nd Session of the IHP Intergovernmental Council

1. Activities Undertaken in the period

1.1 Meetings of the IHP National committee 1.1.1 Decisions regarding the composition of the IHP National Committee Formation for the Egyptian National Committee of the international hydrological programs (ENCIHP) was issued by the Ministerial Decree No.569 dated 5-5-2015 and no 597 dated 5-5-2015. The formation consists of twenty member. They are carefully selected from different disciplines and form a very specialized team. Dr. Mahmoud Abu-zeid president Dr, Madiha Mustafa Darwish vice president Dr, Karima Attia reporter

The committee was honored by the attendance of: - Representative of UNESCO Cairo office Dr.Bashr Emam

The Committee usually organizes periodical meeting every two month, unless there are urgent subjects need to be discussed. The main activities of the committee are : to discuss researches results related to hydrology, cooperate technically with other national and international organizations sharing similar interests, disseminate information and studies related to committee activities, translate interesting books and magazines into Arabic, attend conferences and seminars related to committee activities, and transfer of knowledge through organizing training courses and seminars, and also organize one day workshops for important issues The committee has a major role in implementing of, IHP-VII and proposes new themes and project at IHP-VIII.

Activities of the committee through the mentioned period are summarized bellow: - • Produce report on titeled “potentiality of ground water aquifer in Egypt” • Cooperation with Arab water council in the initiation of none- convential water resources • • Participation in the governmental and intergovernmental council meeting • Participation in Arab IHP national committee bi-annual meeting • Continues support for the regional networks, which related to Wadi Hydrology and Groundwater Protection. • Participation on related internal or external conferences and workshops. • Dissemination of training courses and fellowships to other partners and provide recommendations to participants. • Study, translates and summarizes reports to the participants which have been delivered to the Egyptian national committee for hydrology and contain related subject (for example World Water for Development, Urban Ground- water Pollution, Groundwater Pollution, and new World Water Advancing Technology to secure supply and sub grade the environment. • Discussing the proposed regional initiatives.

1 • Present and discuss the activity done by other Egyptian committees • Discussing method and techniques used for flood forecasting of the River Nile • Suggest ways to improve the cooperation between different Egyptian committee of UENSCO programme and some projects related to Echo hydrology. • Preparation and contribute to World Water Day Celebration. which organized and held in the MWRI building. • Discuss and present the application of isotopes in hydrology (evaporation from lake Nasser, groundwater seepage, recharge to groundwater from adjacent aquifer, sedimentation at lakes) • Contribution to IHP courses (courses supervised by the regional training center) • Organization of specific courses • Organizing an International post graduate training course on "Environmental hydrology for arid and semiarid region" this is a yearly course, held in Egypt. participants from Arab and African country are attending the course • Participation in IHP courses • cooperation with the UNESCO &IHE institute for water education and/or international/ regional water centers under the auspices of UNESCO • Participation in international scientific meetings. Meetings hosted by the country, Participation in meetings abroad

1.1.2 Status of IHP-VIII (2014-2021) activities gram of (IHP VIII) (2014-2021). Comments on proposed themes and suggested area Contributing to the formulation of the eight phase of the International Hydrological Proof interest for the Arab region.

1.2 Activities at a national level in the framework of the IHP 1.2.1 National/local scientific and technical meetings

- Preparation and contribution to annual World Water Day which held at the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation 1.2.2 Participation in IHP Steering Committees/ Working Groups - Organize a one day workshop to discuss issues such as:- o climatic changes and related impact on the Nile flow o strategic of reuse of treated sewage water. o sedimentation process at rivers and at storage lakes with focusing on evaporation control at Lake Nasser. o Rain water harvesting o Protection and harvesting of flood flow

1.2.3 Research/applied projects supported or sponsored

The following list is projects and topics performed and participated by the Egyptian National Committee: • Monitoring and evaluation of the sedimentation in Lake Nasser upstream of

2 Aswan High Dam. • Studying the fluvial characteristics and hydraulics of the river Nile • Development of technologies for river bank protection and river front improvement for rural, urban and tourist centers • Monitoring of water quality in the channel and influent drains for chemical, physical and biological characteristics • Monitoring of groundwater quality • Groundwater assessment and development • Hydraulic studies on the river Nile and its structures • Reuse of drainage water with deliberation of environmental consideration • Integrated water management • Pollution Control • Wadi Hydrology • Weed control and waterways maintenance. • Assessment of environmental impact of the national project • Scour around bridges piers • Groundwater protection • Hydrological code and formula for Wadi Feiran, Sinai, Egypt- case study • Legend and framework to construct a hydrological map for Egypt

1.2.4 Collaboration with other national and international organization/programs

The Egyptian IHP committee being composed of several government officials, University staff, and Research Institution members are taken part in joint work with many international organizations and programs. Among those are the following:

NWRC (Egypt)- Agriculture Research Center (ARC) (Egypt)- National Academy of Science (Egypt)- CEDARS- LTNDP-WMO- TECCONILE- CIDA- DANEDA- ICID- IWRA- IAHR and many others.

1.2.5 Other initiatives

• Reviewing the UNESCO program and budget for years 2014- 2015 • The training center at 6th October City of MWRI and the universities of Egypt are willing to train researchers and technicians of the third world countries supporting and. • Egypt is supporting and contributing the joint activities done between IHP and MAB programs. • Egypt is willing to have one of the pilot projects that can be applied at coastal zone within the frame of the Ocean Monitoring (GOOS). Proposed topics for a training program to be organized at the training center of MWRI at 6th of October city • Training program is being executed with the cooperation between Hydraulics Research Institute and IHE of Netherlands.

3 • Annual training course en title environmental hydrology for arid and semiarid region is being held at hydraulic research institute (NWRC)

1.3 Educational and Training courses 1.3.1 Contribution to IHP courses (courses supervised by the regional training center) • Support the preparation of training material on the Hydrological And Regional Climate Modeling Tools for Climate Change Risk Management in the Nile Basin. • Support the preparation of training need assessment in Egypt in the field of water resources management sciences. • Support the preparation of capacity building tool for water resources management strategies formulation. • Support the preparation of Teacher guidelines for Water education • Support preparation of climate change vulnerability studies in the Arab region including Egypt. • Support technical studies on practical and effective participation of all stakeholders in Groundwater governance in the Arab region including Egypt

• Within the framework of the IHP activities in the Arab region with special focus on capacity building and knowledge transfer in the field of water resources management and technologies, the commettee with the UNESCO Cairo Office (UCO) supported the initiation and production of the first issues of the International Water Technology Journal as edited by the Water Technology Association. The journal is available on the following website: http://iwtj.info/. • Enhancement of the human capacity for national authorities in the field of Water resources management and establishment of a core group of specialists from Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation of Egypt to assess and manage climate change risks in Egypt with special focus on the water resources of the Nile basin through training and research support. • Building the institutional capacities of the ministry of Water resources of Egypt to run regional circulation models. • Development of climate change digital map and building a populated database for the hydrological and meteorological modelling activities at Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation of Egypt. • Preparation and production of a book on Climate change risk management "Toward a climate change adaptation strategy for the water sector in Egypt". • Preparation of climate change adaptation strategy for the Ministry of water resources and Irrigation of Egypt. • Building awareness and capacity of key decision makers and development actors to support the systematic integration of climate change as a new variable in key policy, regulatory, institutional and operational frameworks and implement pilot projects. • Initiation of regional collaboration in relation to climate change knowledge and information sharing and dissemination within the Nile basin in joint collaboration with UNDP-Egypt.

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1.3.2 Organization of specific courses Organizing an International post graduate training course on "Environmental hydrology for arid and semiarid region" this is a yearly course, held in Egypt. The course aimed to train the participants on the principle of environmental Hydrology and to provide sufficient competences in the collection, analysis and use of metrological and hydrological data for IWR planning, focusing on water and ecosystems. The event was held in Cairo, Egypt, during May- June every year. About 20 participants were involved in this training course from the Arab and Nile basin countries. The course enhanced capacity building on environmental hydrology methodologies. The recommendations stated that applying more studies on environmental hydrology is needed. The Course include the Following Subjects:- • Surface Water Hydrology • Groundwater Hydrology

− Hydrometeorology − Watershed Management − Surface Water Hydrology − Open Channel Hydraulics − Fluvial Hydraulics − Infiltration − Stochastic Hydrology − Hydrometry − Groundwater Hydrology − Water Quality and Protection − Water Quality Modelling − Water Resources Development − Integrated Water Resources Management − Water Ethics − Floods and Flood Control − Applications of Geographic Information System (GIS) in Hydrology − Climate Change Impacts on Water Resources − Environmental Impact Assessment of Water Resources Projects

• The committee with UCO supported the preparation of climate change adaptation strategy for the Ministry of water resources and Irrigation of Egypt

1.3.3 Participation in IHP courses

1.4 cooperation with the UNESCO &IHE institute for water education and/or international/ regional water centers under the auspices of UNESCO 1.5 Publications

-Proceedings of the UNESCO - NWRC - ACSAD workshops on (Wadi hydrology) and (Groundwater protection).

5 -Impact of the proposed Naga Hamadi Barrage on groundwater and possible remedial measures. -Policy and strategies for the management of carbonates in Egypt -Development of Siwa oasis -Potentiality of aquifer in Sadat City for drinking water supply -Hydrological condition on El Saff canal area -Development of Groundwater protection criteria” -IHP-Regional Network on Groundwater Protection in the Arab Region in co-operation with the Dutch Government: General Report on the Round Table Workshop on Groundwater Protection and Meeting of the Network (Cairo.6-10 September 1998). IHP- V, TDH, No4.

1.6 Participation in international scientific meetings 1.6.1 Meetings hosted by the country • a Regional Kick-off Workshop on "Climate Change Mainstreaming Capacity Building for Water Resources Management Strategies and Action Plans Formulation" was successfully organized in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt; 16-18 November 2014 • Expert Group Meeting on "Future Water Collaboration in the Arab region", was successfully organized in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt during 17-18 September 2014. • The Regional Workshop on "Towards Effective Groundwater Governance in the Arab Region", was successfully organized in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt during 19-21 September 2014 • 2 special sessions on Groundwater Governance and Gender mainstreaming in IWRM within the 3rd Arab Water Forum, Cairo, Egypt; 9-11 Dec. 2014 in joint collaboration with FAO-RNE, Arab Water Council and IWMI. • 15th Arab IHP Nat Com (Sharm el Sheikh) November 2015 with special focus on “key priorities and approaches to water SDG and targets, with vision of how can UCO support ARAB states in that regards”

1.6.2 Participation in meetings abroad 11th Gulf Water Conference "Water in the GCC … Towards Efficient Management", Muscat, Oman during 20-22 October 2014

1.7 Other activities at a regional level 1.7.1 Institutional relation/co-operation • A network of representatives of universities, water resources ministries and national commissions from Egypt, Sudan, South Sudan and Ethiopia was initiated with a list of identified activities to enhance research cooperation between various institutions in the Nile basin countries

1.7.2 Completed and ongoing scientific projects Completion of friend program Completion of groundwater protection project

6 2)Future activities 2.1 Activities foreseen until December 2016: - • Prepare Egypt water resource Atlas • Prepare book entitled “hydraulics of river Nile-east Nile” with cooperation with national commete of Sudan and Ethiopia • Organize one day work shop for topics:- o Desalination of brackish ground water o New Land reclamation depend on none-reneuable ground water aquifer in Egypt

2.2 Activities foreseen for 2017-2018 • Construct Web site for the national committee • Proposed topics for a training program to be organized at the training center of the MWWI at 6th of October city

2.3 Activities envisaged in the long term • Careful plan for the activities and outputs of the focal area at themes of IHP VIII. • Updating the Celebes of the specific courses which organize by the committee • Increase the cooperation with other national committee • Increase participation of new disciplines to the committee • Updating the policy of water resources utilization in the field of :- Groundwater protection Water saving Desalination technology Integrated water resource managemen • The training center at 6th October City of MWRI and the universities of Egypt are willing to train researchers and technicians of the African countries and other world countries. • Egypt is supporting and contributing the joint activities done between IHP and MAB programs. • Egypt is willing to have one of the pilot projects that can be applied at coastal zone within the frame of the Ocean Monitoring (GOOS). • Increase co-operation and exechange of experience and knowledge between national commette • Increase governmental support to national committe • Increase benefites from experience at Unisco and Isesco and Alesco

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