Sir William Garstin proposed the idea of the canal in 1907; the government of Egypt conducted a study in 1946; and plans took shape between 1954 and 1959 during the period of decolonization which included Sudanese independence in 1956.

[2][3][4] Due to the Sudd swamp, the water from the southwestern tributaries of the Nile, the Bahr el Ghazal system, for all practical purposes does not reach the main river and is lost through evaporation and transpiration.

[5] Sir William Garstin, Undersecretary of State of Public Works of Egypt, created the first detailed proposal for digging a canal east of the Sudd in 1904.

[6] By bypassing the swamps, it was calculated that evaporation of the Nile's water would vastly decrease, allowing an increase in the area of cultivatable land in Egypt by two million acres.

The complex and potentially catastrophic environmental and social issues involved, including the collapse of fisheries, drying of grazing lands,[10] a drop of groundwater levels and a reduction of rainfall in the region,[11][page needed] limits the practicality of the project with 20th century technology, but future efforts may proceed.