The Role of Internal and External Factors in affecting the Egyptian Water Security (2011-2020)

Recently, Egypt has faced a major challenge in managing and planning its water security file, especially in light of the problems and obstacles that stand in the way of securing sufficient water resources to meet the needs of the population, which made this file a priority for the Egyptian political leadership, with a purpose of keeping up with the pressing local requirements resulting from the population increase which - in return – affects the per capita share of fresh water which was estimated at 585 CM in 2018 which means that Egypt suffers from water scarcity whereas according to the WB a country which suffers from water scarcity is below the standard of 1,000 CM per capita- a reference point set by the International Benchmarking Network (IBNET). This coincides with the problem of limited water resources in Egypt and the main dependence on the Nile which provides about 94% of the total traditional water resources in Egypt. Therefore, the main objective of the study was to identify the most prominent internal and external challenges facing Egyptian water security, as well as the most prominent efforts to confront these challenges at the internal and external levels. To achieve this goal, the study relied on the role approach in order to analyze the role played by each factor separately to determine the extent of its impact on Egyptian water security. The study revealed that Egypt suffers from limited water resources, in addition to several variables that affect its water situation, such as climatic variables, in addition to demographic changes resulting from the increase in population numbers, in addition to the differences in the positions of the Nile Basin countries regarding utilizing the Nile water, in addition to the Ethiopian intransigence regarding the GERD crisis, as well as the absence of a legal framework that brings the Nile Basin countries together in their water relations. These factors and variables interacted together to lead to the research on Egyptian water (in)security and ways to enhance it, as well as research efforts at the national, regional, and international levels to preserve Egyptian water security against the aforementioned threats. Keywords: Internal Factors – External Factors – Water Security – Egypt