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Ethiopia's Dam over the Nile Risks War with Egypt

(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Dr. Jacques Neriah - Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia have been holding periodic negotiations regarding the waters of the Blue Nile in the wake of the planned 2022 inauguration of the mammoth Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), the biggest hydroelectric power facility in Africa. The Blue Nile provides 85% of Egypt's water and Egypt sees the dam as an existential threat. Egypt has asked the Ethiopians to slow the pace of filling the mammoth reservoir behind the dam so that the impact on Egypt would be minimal. However, the Ethiopians plan a three-year reservoir-filling process, which would deprive Egypt of 33 billion cubic meters out of the 55.5 it is allowed each year. This would mean that each Egyptian would receive 600 cubic meters annually instead of 2,500, transforming the country. Egypt has already reduced the cultivation of water-intensive crops such as rice and started building water desalination plants in 2014. The most plausible course of action would be to secure international support and try to convince the Ethiopians to accept a compromise.
2021-03-25 00:00:00
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