49 



these repairs amounted to $3(>0,0(»0. Another safeguard has l)een 

 added to the barrage. Across each branch of the Nile below the bar- 

 rage low dams have been built, raising the surface of the water there 

 and correspondingly' reducing the pressure to which the larger works 

 are subjected. 



The P^gyptian Government had many times prior to 1882 discussed 

 the matter of repairing the ])arrage. At one time a scheme was on 

 foot wherebv it was thought that an expenditure of $6,200,000 would 

 make the structure serviceable. Luckily, the Arabic custom of not 

 making repairs prevailed in this instance. Another scheme which 

 received the attention of the government was to pump water into the 

 canals instead of relying on the liarrage at all. This would have 

 necessitated an expenditure of nearly $3,500,000 for the establishment 

 of the pumping plant, and an annual outlay of about §1,25<»,00() to 

 keep it in operation. The government actually made a contract with 

 a company to pump water into one of the canals during low water, 

 and bound itself to pay at least $128,000 a year for this service. So 

 successful, however, were the engineers in repairing the dam that by 

 1892 the canals heading there were fully supplied. The barrage fur- 

 nishes water at a much less cost than a pumping plant, and. as the 

 flow is regulated during the season of high water as well as at other 

 times, a great reduction is made in the volume of silt which has to 

 be removed from the canals each year. However, until after the 

 occupation of the English, labor had but little value, and this item 

 was probabh' not taken into consideration. 



As early as 1881 the barrage performed some beneficial service for 

 the irrigators of the delta. The alterations which first put the dam in 

 w^orking order cost about $2,250,000. One hundred and tifty thousand 

 dollars are required each year for maintenance and operation. While 

 the repairs were being carried on, the Tewtiki Canal, taken out at the 

 eastern end of the Damietta branch of the barrage, was completed, 

 Manv auxiliarv canals and ditches were dug and considerable reform 

 was brought about in the drainage system throughout the delta. 



RESERVOIRS. 



Ilie construction of reservoirs is a new departure on the part of the 

 Egyptian Government. Storing water at Assuan during the winter 

 for the benefit of the irrigator during the months of scarcity will 

 necessitate changes in the irrigation sj'stems now existing if the sup- 

 plv thuf> made available is to be distributed to the best advantag-e. 

 The water supply afforded by the Nile is such that storage works can 

 be extended almost indefinitely, or until all of the arable land of Egypt 

 is served by perennial irrigation. 



The total area of Egj-pt proper, eml)racing the great Lybian Desert, 

 27T52--NO. 130—03 1 



