Qattara Depression - Qattara Depression Project

Qattara Depression Project

The large size of the Qattara Depression and the fact that it falls to a depth of 133 m below mean sea level has led to several proposals to create a massive hydroelectric project in northern Egypt rivalling the Aswan High Dam. This project is known as the Qattara Depression Project. The proposals call for a large canal or tunnel being excavated from the Qattara due north of 55 to 80 kilometres (34 to 50 mi) depending on the route chosen to the Mediterranean Sea to bring seawater into the area. Or otherwise a 320 kilometre (200 mile) pipeline north-east to the freshwater Nile River at Rosetta. Water would flow into a series of hydro-electric penstocks which would generate electricity by releasing the water at 60 m below sea level. Because the Qattara Depression is in a very hot dry region with very little cloud cover the water released at the −70 metres (−229.7 ft) level would spread out from the release point across the basin and evaporate from solar influx. Because of the evaporation more water can flow into the depression thus forming a constant source of energy. Eventually this would result in a hyper-saline lake or a salt pan as the water evaporates and leaves the salt it contains behind.

Plans to use the Qattara Depression for the generation of electricity date back to 1912 from Berlin geographer Professor Penk. The subject was discussed in more detail by Dr. John Ball in 1927. In 1957 the American Central Intelligence Agency proposed to President Dwight Eisenhower that peace in the Middle East could be achieved by flooding the Qattara Depression. The resulting lagoon, according to the CIA, would have four benefits:

• It would be "spectacular and peaceful."
• It would "materially alter the climate in adjacent areas."
• It would "provide work during construction and living areas after completion for the Palestinian Arabs."
• It would get Egyptian president Gamel Abdel Nasser's "mind on other matters" because "he need some way to get off the Soviet Hook."

In the seventies and early eighties several proposals to flood the area were made by Friedrich Bassler and the Joint Venture Qattara, a group of mainly German companies. They wanted to make use of peaceful nuclear explosions to construct a tunnel as it would drastically reduce construction costs compared to conventional methods. This project proposed to use 213 devices, with yields of 1 to 1.5 megatons detonated at depths of 100 to 500 metres (330 to 1,600 ft). This fit within the Atoms for Peace program proposed by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1953. Because of this frightening solution the Egyptian government turned down the plan. Present day scientists still explore the viability of such a project, as a key to resolving economic, population, and ecological stresses in the area. However the project has never been undertaken.