River of hope and promise.

• Author: Zeid, Mahmoud Abu

The River Nile is one of the world's great rivers. For millennia, this unique waterway has nourished varied livelihoods, an array of ecosystems and a rich diversity of cultures. The river basin is characterized by a variety of landscapes--with high mountains, tropical forests, woodlands, lakes, savannas, wetlands, arid lands and deserts--culminating in an enormous delta on the Mediterranean Sea. It serves as home to world-class environmental assets, such as Lake Victoria (the second largest body of fresh water by area in the world) and the vast wetlands of the Sudd. It also serves as home to an estimated 160 million people within the boundaries of the Basin, while roughly 300 million live within those ten countries.

Generally, rivers and their associated ecosystems and biological diversity provide life support for a large proportion of the world's population. Worldwide, poor management of land and water resources in many river basins has led to major floods, water shortages, pollution and loss of biodiversity.

Despite the extraordinary natural endowments and rich cultural history of the Nile Basin, its people face considerable challenges. Today, the Basin is characterized by poverty, instability, rapid population growth and environmental degradation. Four of the Nile riparian countries are among the world's ten poorest, with per capita incomes in the range of $100 to $200 per year. Population is expected to double within the next 25 years, placing additional strain on scarce water and other natural resources. It is interesting to note that only one other river basin--the Danube--is shared by more countries than the Nile, and the transboundary nature of the river poses complex challenges. Yet, the Nile holds significant opportunities for "win-win" development that could enhance food production, energy availability, transportation, industrial development, environmental conservation and other related development activities in the region.

The 1995 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change noted that as a result of man's interventions in the biosphere, the climate of the earth will change considerably over the next 100 years, with major consequences for man in human health, agriculture, forests, coastal zones and species, "" natural areas. Intimately linked to all these are the "" in the distribution and quality of the earth's water ""ources.

One of the early regional projects in the Nile Basin was Hydromet, which was launched in...