Egypt advances in water resource management, infrastructure

Egypt improved its Water Resource Management Index score by 13.9 points, rising from 42 in 2022 to 55.9 in 2024, alongside significant expansions in water infrastructure, according to official data as reported by the Egyptian Cabinet.

Drinking water coverage reached 99 per cent in 2024, up from 95 per cent in 2014, with network lengths increasing from 148,000 km to 181,000 km.

Water production rose by 24.4 per cent to 11.2 billion cubic metres annually. Since 2014, Egypt has implemented 2,958 drinking water projects, tripling desalination plant numbers to 129 with a combined capacity of 1.3 million cubic meters per day.

Sanitation infrastructure also expanded, with the number of wastewater treatment plants increasing by 53.8 per cent to 592, while flood protection structures quadrupled to 1,713.

Major projects include Bahr El Baqar treatment plant (5.6 million m³/day) and the New Delta plant (7.5 million m³/day).

Water resource development efforts also saw the rehabilitation of 7,876 km of irrigation canals and the modernisation of irrigation systems across 1.02 million feddans, with investments totalling EGP 12.2 billion.

Attribution: Amwal Al Ghad English
Subediting: M. S. Salama