USAID/Egypt Mission Director, Hilda Arellano, attended the Kick-Off Ceremony for the USAID-supported West Bank Groundwater Lowering Project in Luxor on October 20.  The project is a result of cooperation between USAID, the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), the National Organization for Potable Water and Sanitary Drainage NOPWASD, and the Supreme Council of Luxor City.  The Kick-Off was attended by the President of the Supreme Council of Luxor City, Dr. Samir Farag, Chairman of the National Organization for Potable Water and Sanitary Drainage NOPWASD, Eng. Hassan Khaled Fadl, and the Director of Upper Egypt Antiquities, Mr. Mansour Boraik, along with other Egyptian dignitaries and officials from Foreign Missions working on antiquities in Luxor.  The ceremony marked the commencement of construction of a sophisticated drainage system that will decrease groundwater levels in the area, thereby protecting four major sites (Medinet Habu, Amenhotep III, Ramesseum, and Seti I) and approximately twenty small temples.