The Aswan Dam and Lake Nasser.
I promised I would post on Egypt and Cairo from time to time.
When the Aswan Dam was built in the early sixties it became known, notoriously, as the "Cold War Dam". President Gamal Nasser wanted to build a new dam on the Nile so that the water flow along the Nile could be controlled. An older dam (Aswan lower Dam), had been built in 1902 by the British but it was not successful in keeping back the waters of the river. Before this, for three thousand years, the ancient Egyptians had used the annual flooding of the Nile for the planting of their crops as the silt was so precious to fertilisation of the soil. The British (with the first dam) wanted a controlled flooding to provide more land for agriculture (as some of the ancient methods encouraged too much salinisation of the soil, insufficient land usage and antiquated methods of using water for agriculture---apart from the fact that modern Egypt could not tolerate uncontrolled flooding).
Nasser sought funds for his High Dam and was turned down by Britain and the US. He then appealed to the Soviet Union and the funds were granted. The dam was built and condemned by the West. Historians know that the dam was used as a Cold War rift between Soviets and the West. Historians also know that the Aswan Dam was the main pre-cursor for the Suez crisis in 1956.
Nasser was incensed by the lack of cooperation from the West for his dam project and shut down Suez. The rest is history. The Aswan dam was built under a dark cloud of relationships but it survives today as a beacon of economic prosperity for Egypt. Controlled flooding of the Nile has seen agriculture blossom and industry grow. There were negative effects in the building of the dam and the subsequent lake (Lake Nasser), formed behind the wall, namely the uprooting of thousands of Nubians living in the Lake basin, the lack of silt occurring in the lower Nile and Mediterranean (affecting fertility of soil and declining fish stocks--the silt had high nutrition levels), and, more known to the layman, the inundation of important monuments. Some were saved, e.g. Abu Simbel, a magnificent tribute to Ramses 11 , which was rebuilt above the Nile. Philae and others were also re-built.
Almost fifty years on the "Cold War Dam" has been a huge success in terms of Egypt's economy. The country now grows crops that
are found in both hemispheres and the hydro-electric power generated at Aswan satisfies 40% of Egypt's power needs. In addition Lake Nasser provides a fishing haven for sport fishing enthusiasts (as well as increasing fish availability for local consumption), and has become a huge tourist attraction.
The "Cold War Dam" is now a symbol of Egypt's prosperity and I hope to go fishing there soon.