The Impacts of Dams - Case Study of the River Nile

As many new dams are planned to be built along the River Nile, many people are fighting back against them.

The Aswan Dam is one of the case studies I look at with my GCSE pupils to look at large scale water management and large scale development schemes. Whilst the pupils enjoy learning about this, they often don't see its importance today as the modern dam was completed in the 1970s, which to our pupils is a very long time ago. In the news recently I have seen that the construction of new dams on the River Nile, particularly in Sudan, are causing conflict with many groups of people worried that the construction of the dams will destroy not only the environment, but also their culture and lifestyle.

In 2007, the Nubian people and many activists helping them to fight for their land, won a battle to prevent the construction of the Kajbar Dam, which, if built, would have destroyed up to 90 villages and displaced approximately 10,000 people. In a protest that occurred at the time, 4 people were killed and 20 injured in the fights with the authorities. The Government then gave up on its plans to build the dam. However, the plans are now back on, with a proposed 20 metre high dam on the cards, with a 110sq km reservoir planned behind it. The environmental damage is clear, but just as important is the impact on the Nubian communities whose villages, practices and culture will be destroyed as they are displaced to other areas. The impact on the Nubians is clear to see and for many elders, they may have witnessed the impacts themselves, when the Aswan Dam's creation caused 52,00 Nubians to be moved from their traditional homeland.

Ongoing issues like this definitely make the case study more interesting and "real" to my pupils.