Aswan Dam droughts in 1972–73 and 1983–87 that devastated East and West Africa. The High Dam allowed Egypt to reclaim about 2.0 million feddan (840,000 hectares) in the Nile Delta and along the Nile Valley, increasing the country's irrigated area by a third. The increase was brought about both by irrigating what used to be desert and by bringing under cultivation of 385,000 ha that were previously used as flood retention basins. About half a million families were settled on these new lands. In particular the area under rice and sugar cane cultivation increased. In addition, about 1 million feddan (420,000 hectares),
Jigüey Dam 1992. It cost US$500 million to build and funding was provided by the host government. Jigüey Dam The Jigüey Dam is an arch-gravity dam on the Nizao River about east of San Cristóbal in San Cristóbal Province of the Dominican Republic. At tall, it is the third highest dam in the country. The purpose of the dam is to produce hydroelectric power and it supplies the largest hydroelectric power station in the country. The dam diverts water through over of headrace pipe and penstock to the power station downstream. The power station contains two 49 MW Francis turbine-generators for an