Editing Nile (section)

=== Since 1950 ===
[[File:KageraRuvubu.jpg|thumb|right|The confluence of the [[Kagera river|Kagera]] and [[Ruvubu river|Ruvubu]] rivers near [[Rusumo Falls]], part of the Nile's upper reaches]]
[[File:Nile03(js).jpg|thumb|[[Dhows]] on the Nile]] [[File:View from Cairo Tower 31march2007.jpg|thumb|The Nile passes through Cairo, Egypt's capital city.]]
The Nile has long been used to transport goods along its length. Winter winds blow south, up river, so ships could sail up river using sails and down river using the flow of the river. While most Egyptians still live in the Nile valley, the 1970 completion of the Aswan Dam ended the summer floods and their renewal of the fertile soil, fundamentally changing farming practices. The Nile supports much of the population living along its banks, enabling Egyptians to live in otherwise inhospitable regions of the Sahara. The river's flow is disturbed at several points by the Cataracts of the Nile which form an obstacle to navigation by boats. The Sudd also forms a formidable navigation obstacle and impedes water flow, to the extent that Sudan had once attempted to build the [[Jonglei Canal]] to bypass the swamp.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shahin |first=Mamdouh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZmdYFTlcSgEC |title=Hydrology and Water Resources of Africa |publisher=Springer |year=2002 |isbn=1-4020-0866-X |pages=286–287 |access-date=25 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905222900/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZmdYFTlcSgEC |archive-date=5 September 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=6CcDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA34 "Big Canal To Change Course of Nile River"] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905230928/https://books.google.com/books?id=6CcDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA34 |date=5 September 2015 }}. October 1933. ''[[Popular Science]]'' (short article on top-right of page with map).</ref>

Nile cities include Khartoum, Aswan, [[Luxor]] (Thebes), and the [[Giza]]{{spaced ndash}}Cairo [[conurbation]]. The first cataract, the closest to the mouth of the river, is at Aswan, north of the Aswan Dam. This part of the river is a regular tourist route, with cruise ships and traditional wooden sailing boats known as [[felucca]]s. Many cruise ships ply the route between Luxor and Aswan, stopping at [[Edfu]] and [[Kom Ombo]] along the way. Security concerns have limited cruising on the northernmost portion for many years.

A computer simulation study to plan the economic development of the Nile was directed by H.A.W. Morrice and W.N. Allan, for the Ministry of Hydro-power of Sudan, during 1955–57<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Morrice |first1=H.A.W. |last2=Allan |first2=W N. |year=1959 |title=Planning for the ultimate hydraulic development of the Nile Valley |journal=Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=101–156 |doi=10.1680/iicep.1959.11963 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Barnett |first=M.P. |year=1957 |title=Comment on the Nile Valley Calculations |journal=Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series B |volume=19 |page=223 |jstor=2983815 }}</ref><ref>D.F. Manzer and M.P. Barnett, ''Analysis by Simulation: Programming Techniques for a High-Speed Digital Computer'', in Arthur Maas ''et al.'', ''Design of Water Resource Systems'', pp. 324–390, [[Harvard University Press]], Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1962.</ref> Morrice was their hydrological adviser, and Allan his predecessor. The calculations were enabled by accurate monthly inflow data collected for 50 years. The underlying principle was the use of over-year storage, to conserve water from rainy years for use in dry years. Irrigation, navigation and other needs were considered. Each computer run postulated a set of reservoirs and operating equations for the release of water as a function of the month and the levels upstream. The behavior that would have resulted given the inflow data was modeled. Over 600 models were run. Recommendations were made to the Sudanese authorities. The calculations were run on an [[IBM 650]] computer. Simulation studies to design water resources are discussed further in the article on [[hydrology transport model]]s, which have been used since the 1980s to analyze water quality.

Despite the development of many reservoirs, drought during the 1980s led to widespread starvation in Ethiopia and Sudan, but Egypt was nourished by water impounded in Lake Nasser. Drought has proven to be a major cause of fatality in the Nile river basin. According to a report by the [[Strategic Foresight Group]], droughts in the last century have affected around 170 million people and killed half a million people.<ref name="Blue Peace for the Nile, 2009">[http://www.strategicforesight.com/publication_pdf/11374Nile%20concise.pdf Blue Peace for the Nile, 2009] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130908163426/http://www.strategicforesight.com/publication_pdf/11374Nile%20concise.pdf |date=8 September 2013 }}; Report by Strategic Foresight Group</ref> From the 70 incidents of drought which took place between 1900 and 2012, 55 incidents took place in Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Kenya and Tanzania.<ref name="Blue Peace for the Nile, 2009" />