Egypt faces another dam challenge
Egypt has been expressing its fears that the Renaissance Dam project would be completed before a planned study is carried out, as this could jeopardize Egypt’s share of the Nile waters.
Cairo — Controversy prevailed in the Egyptian public opinion, after Deltares, a Dutch advisory institute, announced on Sept. 15 its withdrawal from a study to assess the risks that the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which is under construction on the Blue Nile, can cause to Egypt and Sudan.
The withdrawal from the project by Deltares has been met by a wave of objections in Egypt for fear that this could further obstruct the completion of the study, which was supposed to be completed last March — at the time, the research hadn't even started yet. Ethiopia, on the other hand, has completed 47% of the required work on the dam and is preparing to inaugurate and operate the first stage in October 2016. This initial operation threatens to reduce Egypt’s share of the Nile waters, currently standing about 55.5 billion cubic meters, by 14.5 billion cubic meters.
