With an ever-growing population, the per-capita share of water in Egypt will sure decrease, if not be scarce, the Irrigation Minister Mohamed Bahaa el-Din has warned.

Bahaa el-Din expected water shares to decline to well below 500 cubic meters annually, which is the international water scarcity level.

The worst case scenario would be if Egypt's quota of the Nile water is reduced, the minister told a workshop held Saturday to follow up the implementation of a national plan for water resources.

He pointed that in 1959, the per-capita share stood at a yearly 2,800 cubic meters. This year it atrophied to only 660 cubic meters, Bahaa el-Din noted.

Bahaa el-Din stressed the need for citizens to rationalize the use of water and expand water recycling operations at factories. He called for using water-saving technologies and reducing water wasted from the agriculture sector by upgrading field irrigation.

The workshop was organized under the auspices of Prime Minister Hisham Qandil.