Water resources and irrigation minister Hesham Mohamed Qandil told the Parliament Agriculture and Irrigation Committee on Sunday that Egypt's Nile water quota of 5.55 billion cubic meters has not changed since 1955.
Kandil explained that the per capita share of water has decreased due to an increase in irrigation and population.
He added that the government is making efforts to ration the use of water and cooperate with Nile Basin countries to increase water resources for all member states.
“We keep clearing weeds and other obstacles that prevent access of water to the canals,” he said. “But fishermen are against it because fish feed on those weeds.”
Parliament accused the ministry of failing to prevent Nile Basin countries from building dams, which reduced Egypt’s quota to 32 billion cubic meters last year.
Edited translation from MENA
