Egypt explores water alternatives with Nile dam set to fill
Egypt is working on water projects with South Sudan in a bid to make up for water lost from the Nile as Ethiopia fills its Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
CAIRO — Many observers believe that Egypt is left with two choices regarding the negotiations on filling and operating the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD): a military confrontation with Addis Ababa or finding an alternative water source.
Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed tweeted April 18 that his country is preparing for the second-stage filling of the dam’s reservoir in July and August despite the lack of an agreement with Egypt and Sudan. Ahmed claimed that filling the dam will not adversely impact the two downstream countries.
Egyptian Minister of Water Resources Mohammed Abdel Ati talked about several possible alternative water sources in an April 17 meeting at the ministry.
Abdel Ati spoke of a project linking Lake Victoria and the Mediterranean Sea through a corridor parallel to the Nile and another to develop the Bahr al-Ghazal Basin, which is one of the Nile’s tributaries from southern Sudan.
