Aswan High Dam

The Aswan High Dam, often called simply Aswan Dam, was built between 1960 and 1970 across the Nile in Aswan, Egypt. One of the world's largest embankment dams, it was developed by the Egyptian government with the help of the Soviet Union to control flooding, increase water storage for irrigation, and generate hydroelectricity. The dam was seen as pivotal to the country's industrialization plans. Like the Aswan Low Dam, which had been completed in 1902, the High Dam has changed the economy and culture of Egypt. When the Aswan High Dam was completed, it was the tallest earthen dam in the world, surpassing the Chatuge Dam in the United States. It created the Lake Nasser reservoir. It was built 7 km (4.3 mi) upstream of the Low Dam, which was built in 1902 to regulate the annual flooding of the Nile during late summer. These floods brought high water with natural nutrients and minerals that annually enriched the fertile soil along its floodplain and delta; this predictability had made the Nile valley ideal for farming since ancient times. However, this natural flooding varied, since high-water years could destroy the whole crop, while low-water years could create widespread drought and consequently famine. The Low Dam's relatively small capacity meant water continued to pass largely unimpeded down the valley from its East African drainage basin, so floods and droughts continues. As Egypt's population grew and technology increased, the desire and the ability developed to completely control the flooding, and thus both protect and support farmland and its economically important cotton crop. With the greatly increased reservoir storage provided by the High Aswan Dam, the floods could be controlled and the water could be stored for later release over multiple years. The Aswan Dam was designed by Nikolai Aleksandrovich Malyshev of the Moscow-based...