Continued conflict clogging up Renaissance Dam negotiations
Egypt may have procrastinated itself into a corner as it passively awaits a solution to concerns about how the already-underway Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam will affect its water supply.
CAIRO — Egypt has been trying for a year and a half to resolve issues surrounding construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, but there is no solution in sight.
Technical negotiations between Egypt and Ethiopia are marred by a deep disagreement that’s impeding any clear solution to reduce the dam’s negative impact on Egypt’s historical annual quota of Nile water, which amounts to about 55 billion cubic meters (14.5 billion gallons) per year.
The ninth round of talks by the Tripartite National Committee (TNC) took place Nov. 7-8 in Cairo. The TNC, which first met in Khartoum in August 2014, includes experts from Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia. However, the only outcome of the most recent meeting was an agreement to try to schedule another meeting. No date had been set as of this writing.
Egypt has been waiting — and waiting — for an impact study on the hydraulic, social, environmental and economic impacts of the dam on Egypt and Sudan, in accordance with recommendations of a report by the International Panel of Experts (IPOE). The study has been stalled by disagreements between the firms hired to conduct it and between the firms and the TNC. Meanwhile, Ethiopia already has completed a significant part of the construction of the first stage of the dam.
