(I) Egypt is restricted in the amount of water it is allowed to take each year from the Nile. (II) Although its population is increasing, the amount of available water remains the same. (III) Wealthy investors and poor farmers alike used the water to grow crops. (IV) Moreover, much water is lost through evaporation from the surface of Lake Nasser and from old, inefficient irrigation systems, (V) So Egypt is building a giant canal which will take water from Lake Nasser's overflow basin and carry it to new irrigation systems in the desert.