What are the pros and cons of the Aswan Dam?

Answer 1

The Aswan high Dam is a controversial dam created by Egypt with assistance of the Soviet Union. It is one of the world's largest embankment dams, holding nearly 5 times more water than the Hoover Dam. It was built to control the natural flooding of the Nile, which was unpredictable and could cause destruction whenever it flooded too high and drought when it flooded too low. The other reason the Aswan Dam was built was to generate electricity for Egyptian farmers(when the dam was first built it generated 50% of Egypt's electricity, about 15% in 1998).

Unexpected benefits from the dam occurred including a new fishing industry and more convenient navigation as well as increased tourism. Because of reputed sightings of abnormally large Nile perch , big game fishing has become a new source of tourism.

However, many expected and unexpected drawbacks occurred as well. They are mostly social and environmental. Various Egyptian artifacts were submerged, some of which were relocated but most destroyed. The rising water level also submerged the homes of 50,000 Egyptian Nubians and 50,000 to 70,000 Sudanese Nubians (Lake Nasser is the largest manmade lake in the world. The Aswan Dam also assisted in the spread of the disease Schistosomiasis caused by the mass breeding of freshwater snails carrying the parasite Bilharzias as a result of the water level increase of Lake Nasser. The snails would have originally been flushed away by the Nile, but the Aswan dam 'clogged' up the flow. Egyptian cultural perceptions of the Nile including how miraculous it was that it flooded were also destroyed because humans could control the flow.

The loss of silt in the Nile riverbanks caused by the Aswan Dam has led to a overflow of silt in Lake Nasser which has become a problem but a reduction of sediment in the Nile that have traditionally served the role as fertilizer. This has led to the introduction of chemical fertilizers, which are less effective but more costly and less environmentally than the nutrients the sediment provided. The loss of sediment in the river has also led to the reduction of fish in the Nile. The chemical fertilizers are also dangerous to health. The loss of naturally occurring sediment has also led to the destruction of 1,000 square kilometers of land as a result of the brick construction industry which was forced to use up the old alluvium of arable land. About 50% of Egypt's farmland is rated medium to poor, a stark contrast to the extremely fertile land before. Because of the loss of silt in the Nile, the farmland of Egypt is degrading to a low quality.

The large amount of water in Lake Nasser has also led to the evaporation of its water. About 11% of the water in Lake Nasser is lost to evaporation each year. The slow flow of water in the Nile has led to the increase of weeds and algae that clogged up waterways and lowered the quality of the the water.

River bed erosion was predicted to be a major problem but it has not been so.

Answer 2

It stopped the annual flooding and it produces electricity. The link below will give you a good overview.

Answer 3

they killed like a million Jews

Answer 4

it was wrong and low