Egypt rejects the Qattara Depression project completely after studying for ten years

The Media Center of the Egyptian Council of Ministers revealed the final decision on the Qattara depression project, one of the largest proposed water projects in the Middle East. The decision came after comprehensive ten-year studies, which included a careful assessment of the environmental, economic and technical aspects of the ambitious project. The Egyptian government formed a specialized ministerial committee in 2016, tasked with studying five different scenarios for the exploitation of the Qattara depression. These scenarios ranged from The full exploitation of the depression for water storage and electricity generation, and the use of parts of it for desalination and agricultural development, leading to the exclusion of the idea of using it as a water reservoir altogether. Studies have warned of catastrophic environmental risks that may result from the project, most notably the intrusion of salt water into the underground reservoir and the contamination of fresh wells in the surrounding areas. She also noted the immediate threat to the Siwa Oasis and its unique ecosystems, which include more than 40 species of medicinal plants, 164 bird species, and 28 rare mammal species. On the economic level, studies revealed that the project conflicts with oil exploration and production activities in the region, where 35 oil development areas and 8 exploration areas overlap with the lowland site. It pointed out that the costs of digging the conductive channel and generating electricity from waterfalls will be very high compared to the available alternatives. The Ministerial Committee settled on the fourth scenario, which It stipulates that the depression should not be used as a water reservoir at all, which means closing the file of this giant project, which has long sparked widespread controversy in the Egyptian and Arab scientific and environmental circles. This decision comes within the framework of the Egyptian state's keenness to make development decisions based on accurate scientific foundations that achieve sustainable development.