Rainfall in Egypt – an under-used potential
Egypt is situated in the subtropical dry belt. Rainfall constitutes an impor-
tant factor in agriculture only in the narrow strip along the Mediterranean
coast and on the Sinai peninsula. Barth and Shata (1987: 51f ) give the following
picture of rainfall and surface run-off for this area taking into consideration
high rainfall variability:
• During an average winter season rainfall amounts to 10 billion m3
, which
leads to a surface run-off of 0.5–1 billion m3
 of water.
• In particularly wet years, i.e. about 20 per cent of all years, rainfall may
be about 15 billion m3
, accounting for 1.5 billion m3
 of surface run-off.
• In about 10 per cent of all years the water available rises