Degradation of the Nile River Delta

“Five years ago, we started feeling the pollution through the water coming from the main canal nearby, which is contaminated by chemically treated sewage disposal. And that kills our crops. The government does not care. They throw chemical waste into the Nile everywhere.” —Hamada Henidy, Egyptian farmer A confluence of environmental problems poses an existential threat to agriculture in Egypt, which relies almost exclusively on the historically-fertile Nile River Delta. Upstream damming of the Nile River stops the flow of alluvial silt that replenishes the soils of the delta region, while also diminishing water supplies for irrigation. Increased groundwater tapping has contributed to subsidence, or sinking ground, which ultimately causes salinization of groundwater from the Mediterranean Sea. Meanwhile, poorly regulated water pollution flows from upriver cities including Cairo, threatening crops and those who consume them with dangerous contaminants.