Dr. Ahmed Khater, director of the Groundwater Research Institute at the Nile Barrage, finds it ironic that in a desert region like the Middle East, petroleum geology is much better understood than subsurface hydrology."But water is what makes our life possible here, and we must use it wisely," he says.He cites the experience of President Nasser's "New Valley" project in the 1960's, which proposed a massive resettlement of Nile Valley farmers to the western oases.It was a failure.
"These isotope studies hold the promise of learning more about what is really our most precious asset,water, not oil," he says.Nasser, he notes, got the New Valley project's motto wrong."He said, ,When settlers come, then we will find water,'" says Khater.
Dr. Ahmed Khater, director of the Groundwater Research Institute at the Nile Barrage, finds it ironic that in a desert region like the Middle East, petroleum geology is much better understood than subsurface hydrology."But water is what makes our life possible here, and we must use it wisely," he says.He cites the experience of President Nasser's "New Valley" project in the 1960's, which proposed a massive resettlement of Nile Valley farmers to the western oases.It was a failure.
"These isotope studies hold the promise of learning more about what is really our most precious asset,water, not oil," he says.Nasser, he notes, got the New Valley project's motto wrong."He said, ,When settlers come, then we will find water,'" says Khater.