Killing waters

Are we doing irreparable damage to our lakes? Dena Rashed looks beneath murky waters
Along the shores of Lake Maryut, Haj Ali Amer, a fisherman in his late 60s, stands amidst piles of garbage. Cultivated fields unfold behind him and a factory built on land that was once part of the lake looms in the background as Amr remembers better days. "Long before the destruction of the lake began, I used to fish here. But now, look at the place and what it has turned into," he says pointing to the huge mounds of garbage along the lake's shores courtesy of the Alexandria governorate sanitation department.
But unsightly as it is, garbage disposal is only one of many environmental problems that plague Lake Maryut, the smallest of Egypt's northern lakes, which is situated south of Alexandria.
There was a time when the lake was rich with aquatic life; the towns and villages along its shores were so prosperous from thriving agriculture that Christians fleeing Roman persecution sought refuge there. The devout were drawn to the lake to seek the blessing of Saint Mina who was buried near the lake shore. According to popular myth, the body of the saint, who died between 284 and 305, was being transported by a camel which refused to move upon reaching one end of the lake at which point it was decided to bury the holy man there. Soon after, the lake waters were claimed to have miraculous properties which drew Christians from far and wide.
In the year 2001, however, the lake is a mere shadow of its former self. It now comprises five separate basins, the waters of which are extremely polluted. Urban sprawl from Alexandria and the drive for land reclamation have led to calls to drain what remains of the lake once and for all.
It is hard to imagine that Lake Maryut once accounted for 60 per cent of Egypt's total fish production. Today, it does not even cover the needs of the governorate of Alexandria. In 1981, the lake yielded 10,160 tons of fish, while last year fishermen hauled in a mere 6,378 tons. As Amr explained, "We used to export fish from Maryut to all surrounding governorates, but now Alexandria imports fish from other governorates."
The lake's demise has been a long slow process and calls to drain it are not new. Amr, who heads the Fishermen's Association of Lake Maryut (FAML), recalled, "In the 1960s, every farmer was promised five feddans [of land] and it seems there was not enough land so large parts of the lake were drained and cultivated and the area came to be known as 'Abis.'"
Over the years, and for various reasons, draining parts of the lake and creating land fills became a government policy despite the fact that Law No 124 for the year 1983 forbids both of these activities. As a result, the lake's area has decreased from 50,000 feddans in 1960 to 15,000 feddans in 2000. Said Tawfiq, deputy head of the General Authority for Fish Resources Development (GAFRD), concedes that "Draining the lakes is Egypt's general policy. Public welfare comes first." He went on to explain that lakes are drained to increase the country's cultivable land. "Bread comes first. People are not going to eat fish everyday, but they need bread everyday, and that is what cultivated lands offer," he argued.
Other specialists, even those who argue in favour of ending the painful existence of Lake Maryut, beg to differ. Ahmed Hamza, senior consultant at the Ministry of Environment, argues, "As a general principle, lakes should never be drained. There are countries that spend lots of money to create artificial lakes, while in Egypt we were endowed with many natural lakes. All we need to do is to preserve them." He lamented, however, that instead of preservation at Maryut, "there are parts of the lake that seem to have ceased to be important due to continuous pollution. Land fills should be created in those parts," he said.
But for those whose livelihood depends on the lake, there is yet another truth. As Ashraf Zoreik, an outspoken fisherman, explains, "The lake still has much to give. If only the Ministry of Irrigation would increase the amount of water directed into the lake, this would help decrease the effects of pollution. Of course, above all, stopping the disposal of wastes into our waters would help."
Even those fishermen who reaped the benefits of the policy outlined by GAFRD's Tawfiq, and were granted plots of land for agricultural purposes complain that the salinity of the soil makes cultivation difficult.
In 1985, a factory for recycling garbage was set up along the shores of one of Lake Maryut's five basins. Discussing this project, Ahmed Shabara, head of the Centre for Developing Technological Capabilities at the Mubarak City for Scientific Research and Applied Technology (MUCSAT), told Al-Ahram Weekly, "At first we thought it was a great idea, but the results were disastrous. The factory became the reason Alexandria's garbage was dumped in the lake." Shabara, who is also a member of the Alexandria NGO Friends of the Environment Association and the son of a Maryut fisherman, argues that policy towards the lake is short-sighted. "They are only concerned about getting rid of 2,000 tons of garbage each day; they do not seem to care about the environment. But what will they do with the garbage when the 1,000-feddan-basin is filled?" he asked.
The largest basin, the 6,000-feddan-basin, where most of the fishing is done, has already suffered several phases of destruction. The International Park of Alexandria, a public garden, is set up on 130 feddans of land that was once covered by the lake, while another 500 feddans were sacrificed to MUCSAT, not to mention the area drained to allow for the creation of the ring road.
Another major problem that confronts the 6,000-feddan-basin is the daily disposal of one million cubic metres of sewage that has undergone primary treatment (30 per cent filtration). "Other parts of the lake were given to businessmen in return for their having participated in the building of a road or beautifying a square in the city, as if draining so many parts of the lake were not enough," Shabara said with exasperation.
But many organisations have had a part in brining about the dismal condition of the lake. According to Zoreik, "The ministries of agriculture, irrigation, environment, and the governorate of Alexandria should all be held accountable for the current condition of the lake."
Three major factories, one in each of the petroleum, petrochemicals and textiles industries, dump their industrial waste directly into the Nubaryia Canal, the lake's main source of water. "Although there are only three factories that discharge their industrial waste directly into the canal, and, therefore, into the lake, the rest of the factories in the area dispose of their waste via the central sewage network, which ultimately empties into the lake," pointed out Shabara.
The dangers arising from dumping such chemical wastes are enormous. According to Dr Mahmoud Amr, the director of the National Centre for Toxicological Research at Cairo University Medical School, the lake is similar to a test tube where all chemicals, sewage and agricultural waste mix together. Amr explained that with the hot weather fishermen's risk of exposure to these chemicals increases. The contaminated water evaporates, meaning that a fisherman need not touch it to be exposed to the chemicals it carries. Added to more immediate dangerous effects, exposure to the chemicals carries a risk of genetic damage to both fish and humans, explained Amr.
For its part, the Ministry of Environment has demanded that disposal into the lake of all untreated waste be stopped. Concerning factories near the lake, Magdi Allam, the general director of the Cairo and Fayoum branches of the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency, said, "Many factories have been given a time limit by which they must begin treating their industrial waste. Already, 30 per cent of factories are treating their waste."
But treatment of waste or finding alternative places to dispose of it is not always simple. "To stop agricultural drainage from reaching the lake would result in the flooding of cultivated lands," said Hamza, consultant to the Ministry of Environment. But as the situation stands, pesticides used in cultivation are a source of chemical pollution of the lake.
Some 75,000 persons depend on Lake Maryut for their living, among them are 5,000 fishermen whose dependents are estimated at 25,000 persons, and another 10,000 who work in related professions to fishing. According to Zoreik, "All these lives will be threatened if the lake is not preserved."
The deterioration of the lake has been a disaster for fisherman. "We have cried out for help for years and years; does anyone listen? If only we could have good clean water, the fisherman would be a real fisherman," Haj Hasan, a fisherman, said angrily. "It has become impossible to find fish in many parts of the lake," he added. Haj Hasan, who is 68, remembers the days when he was young and the lake was relatively unpolluted. "I used to earn LE500 a day. Now I barely make LE10 a day -- is that a living?"
"My father and grandfather were both fishermen and I have been fishing for 20 years now. I tried many jobs but I failed and I just find myself coming back to the lake," Hassan Salama, a fisherman said, "Fishing is the only thing that I know."
Solving the problems of the lake is not simple. "What we really need in Egypt is a national association for preserving and maintaining lakes. This association should have its own policy and techniques," Hamza said.
Going, going..
EGYPT is identified with the Nile, but in addition to the Red and Mediterranean seas, it is home to 11 natural and artificial lakes. Official figures for 1999, the most recent numbers available, indicate that all these waters combined account for some 649,000 tons of fish, worth LE4 billion. Though considerable, it is not enough. Egypt still imports an additional 93,000 tons of fish a year, at a cost of LE334 million. And even with these additional imports, the average individual share of fish does not exceed 13 kilogrammes annually.
Together, the 11 lakes supply an estimated 173,000 tons of fish annually, but these numbers are declining steadily. Though they provide an invaluable service, Egypt's lakes have suffered from neglect and over-development -- the ills of modern times. As years of disservice take their toll, the effects are finally trickling down to the people being served.
Over one-hundred years ago Al-Manzala Lake covered a sprawling 750,000 feddans and was known as one of the best sources of fish in the country. But natural forces in conjunction with aggressive land reclamation policies over the last century have resulted in extensive overdrying and today the lake is only 120,000 feddans. Current programmes are expected to see another 50,000 feddans shaved off Al-Manzala and an onslaught of pollution has rendered the water dangerously impure.
Of the 630,000 feddans of land that was once Al-Manzala, most have gone into public works projects distributed among four governorates. Some of these allocations include 78,000 feddans of road building and city expansion in Port Said governorate, while another 87,000 feddans were dried up and granted to the Sharkiya governorate for the Sahl El-Hosynia project. Another 30,000 feddans have gone to the Dakahliya governorate and 4,500 feddans to Damietta governorate. What remains of Manzala today is the repository of two million cubic metres of sewage waste from Cairo and nine million cubic metres of chemical fertilizers and industrial waste.
Suffering a similar fate, Lake Edko, in Al-Baheira governorate, has become little more than a 17,000-feddan basin for mixed chemicals. An estimated 750,000 cubic metres of sewage are dumped into its water annually, and no less than three factories (natural gas, fertilizers, and paper) dispose of their waste directly in the lake.
A recent report issued by the Land Centre for Human Rights states that the depth of the lake has decreased from a metre and a half to only a metre due to the precipitation of the pollutants in the lake. The same report says that 40 per cent of fishermen on Lake Edko suffer from kidney failure, while many others suffer from bilharzia. The brutal environment was simply too much for the lake's inhabitants, and numerous species of fish have since gone extinct. As waters disappear and fish populations decrease, the need to import fish grows and grows.
There may be reason to hope, however. Al-Temsah Lake was yet another heavily polluted lake where untreated sewage, as well as an estimated one million cubic metres of agricultural waste, were disposed of daily. The dumping led to the formation of a three-metre-deep layer of precipitated pollutants at the bottom of the lake. A purification plan, which started four months ago and is expected to last for another four years, has the mandate of cleaning up all the mess. The project is expected to cost the government some LE50 million.
Cleaning up the mess is only the first step, as fishermen on Al-Bardawil Lake are learning. At 160,000 feddans, Al- Bardawil is the largest natural lake in Egypt at present. Situated on the northern coast of Sinai, far from the industrial pollution that threatens other northern lakes, the fish from Al-Bardawil enjoy a good reputation both locally and abroad. But several years ago, the fishing trade was hit hard by a European ban on Egyptian fish exports, putting an end to the vibrant export trade to Italy from Al-Bardawil.
The ban was enacted over sanitary concerns due to pollution and fishing practices. Egypt was forced to adhere to new sanitation requirements with regard to facilities and procedures. Ian Boag, the European Union's new ambassador to Egypt, told Al- Ahram Weekly that these requirements have been translated into amendments in the recently signed partnership agreement between Egypt and the EU. Boag couldn't stress the significance of pollution enough, noting that increased pollution is one of the main factors that keeps Egyptian fish out of Europe. "We have made a lot of progress in the association agreement, and technical assistance has been provided to Egypt, especially with regard to health aspects," Boeg added.
Said Tawfik, deputy head of the General Authority for Fish Resources and Development (GAFRD), argues that the situation at Al-Bardawil Lake is under control. "In the last five years, LE100 million have been allocated to the development of Al- Bardawil Lake," he said, noting that LE72 million of this money were provided in grants from the EU. "The conditions at Al-Bardawil Lake are much better now," he added. "We built an ice factory in front of the lake to help preserve the fish, and all fishermen are now required to carry an ice box with them while fishing."
Tawfik maintains that the real problem with Egypt's fishing industry is over-fishing, in addition to illegal fishing techniques employed in some lakes. These include using unauthorised nets, which catch small fish along with big ones, and fishing after the lakes close.
"In a 160,000-feddan lake, it's hard to monitor illegal fishing. The possibility of smuggling fish is still present," noted an anonymous source from the local authorities.
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