The New Valley Project or Toshka Project consists of building a system of canals to carry water from Lake Nasser to irrigate the sandy wastes of the Western Desert of Egypt, which is part of the Sahara Desert. In 1997 the Egyptian government decided to develop a "new" valley (in addition to the Nile Valley) where agricultural and industrial communities could be developed. It has been an ambitious project which was meant to help Egypt deal with its rapidly growing population.