Editing Qattara Depression (section)

==Qattara Depression Project==
{{Main|Qattara Depression Project}}

The large size of the Qattara Depression and the fact that it falls to a depth of {{cvt|133|m|ft}} below mean sea level has led to several proposals to create a massive [[hydroelectric power]] project in northern Egypt rivalling that of 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 {{convert|55|to|80|km|mi}} depending on the route chosen to the [[Mediterranean Sea]] to bring seawater into the area.<ref>Ragheb, M. 2010.  ''Pumped Storage Qattara Depression Solar Hydroelectric Power Generation.pdf'' {{Cite web |url=https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/mragheb/www/NPRE%20498ES%20Energy%20Storage%20Systems/Pumped%20Storage%20Qattara%20Depression%20Solar%20Hydroelectric%20Power%20Generation.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=19 June 2011 |archive-date=18 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121218202042/https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/mragheb/www/NPRE%20498ES%20Energy%20Storage%20Systems/Pumped%20Storage%20Qattara%20Depression%20Solar%20Hydroelectric%20Power%20Generation.pdf |url-status=bot: unknown }}. Published on 28 October 2010.</ref>

An alternative plan involved running a {{convert|320|km|mi|adj=on}} pipeline northeast to the [[freshwater]] [[Nile River]] at [[Rosetta]].<ref name=nileQ>Mahmoud, Mohamed. [http://www.medjmc.com/mahmoud/qattara.html ''The River Nile - Qattara Depression Pipeline''], June 2009</ref><ref name=map>User:TGCP [http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=31%b024N+30%b025E+-++30%b00%26%238242;N+27%b030%26%238242;E ''Great Circle Mapper - Rosetta to Qattara'']<!--using coordinates given-->, 2011</ref> Water would flow into a series of water [[penstock]]s which would generate electricity by releasing the water at {{cvt|60|m|ft}} below sea level. Because the Qattara Depression is in a very hot dry region with very little cloud cover, the water released at the {{convert|-70|m|ft}} level would spread out from the release point across the basin and evaporate from solar influx. Because of evaporation, more water can flow into the depression, thus forming a continual source of power. Eventually this would result in a hypersaline lake or a salt pan as the water would evaporate and leave behind the salt that it contained.

Plans to use the Qattara Depression for the generation of electricity date back to 1912 <!-- this publication (behind paywall) says it was year 1916 --> from Berlin geographer [[Albrecht Penck]].<ref name=Peace>{{cite book |last=Murakami |first=Masahiro |url=http://library.northsouth.edu/Upload/Managing%20Water%20for%20Peace.pdf |title=Managing water for peace in the Middle East |year=1995 |publisher=United Nations University Press |pages=64–66 |isbn=92-808-0858-3 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425161027/http://library.northsouth.edu/Upload/Managing%20Water%20for%20Peace.pdf |archive-date=25 April 2012 }}</ref> The subject was discussed in more detail by [[John Ball (geologist)|Dr. John Ball]] in 1927, who estimated a hydroelectric potential of 125 to 200 megawatts.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1781881 | jstor=1781881 | title=Problems of the Libyan Desert | last1=Ball | first1=John | journal=The Geographical Journal | year=1927 | volume=70 | issue=1 | pages=21–38 | doi=10.2307/1781881 }}</ref> 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:<ref>MI: Gale. 2009. Farmington Hills, ''CIA Suggestions, Document Number CK3100127026''. Reproduced in "Declassified Documents Reference System"</ref>{{Citation needed|reason=Cited publication only available on location|date=February 2025}}

*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.
*It would get [[Egypt]]ian president [[Gamel Abdel Nasser]]'s "mind on other matters" because "he need[ed] some way to get off the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] hook"

In the 1970s and early 1980s, 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, drastically reducing construction costs compared to conventional methods. This project proposed to use 213 [[H-bombs]], with yields of one to 1.5 [[TNT equivalent|megaton]]s, detonated at depths of {{convert|100|to|500|m|ft}}. That fit within the [[Atoms for Peace|Atoms for Peace program]] proposed by US President [[Dwight Eisenhower]] in 1953. The Egyptian government turned down the idea.<ref name="macro-engineering"/>

Planning experts and scientists intermittently put forward potentially viable options, whether of a tunnel or canal, as an economic, ecological, and energy solution in Egypt, often coupled with the idea of new settlements.<ref name="macro-engineering">{{cite book |doi=10.1007/978-3-642-14779-1_23 |chapter=Mapping of the Qattara Depression, Egypt, using SRTM Elevation Data for Possible Hydropower and Climate Change Macro-Projects |title=Macro-engineering Seawater in Unique Environments |series=Environmental Science and Engineering |year=2010 |last1=Hafiez |first1=Ragab A. |pages=519–531 |isbn=978-3-642-14778-4 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00908318908908939?journalCode=ueso19 | doi=10.1080/00908318908908939 | title=A Feasibility Study for Power Generation from the Qattara Depression using a Hydro-Solar Scheme | year=1989 | last1=Baghdadi | first1=A.H.A. | last2=Mobarak | first2=A. | journal=Energy Sources | volume=11 | pages=39–52 }}</ref><ref>Kelada, Maher. [http://www.miktechnology.com/qattara.html ''Global Hyper Saline Power Generation Qattara Depression Potential''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190915204813/http://www.miktechnology.com/qattara.html |date=15 September 2019 }} MIK Technology</ref>