CAIRO — Egyptian media outlets and experts reported that Ethiopia has begun the third-stage filling operation of its controversial Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), as the dispute over the dam remains unresolved between Cairo, Khartoum and Addis Ababa.

This comes after Ethiopia announced in mid-June that it had completed 88% of the construction work on the GERD, and is looking forward to the actual completion of its construction by the end of 2023.

Recent satellite images showed that the water level in the GERD lake had crossed last year’s level, with the disappearance of some small islands. The water level is nearing the concrete saddle dam, which was built by Ethiopia as a backup dam for the GERD.

In a July 11 Facebook post, Abbas Sharaki, professor of geology and water resources at Cairo University, said the storage operation of the GERD will continue until the end of July, if “the outlet bottom gates (60-70 million m3 / day) continue to be opened at a level of 590 meters above sea level for the central spillway (with a storage of about 4 billion m3), or the fifth of August at a level of 595 meters (with a storage of 5.5 billion m3).”