Egypt promotes local projects to mitigate GERD effects
As Ethiopia continues to fill the reservoir of its controversial dam on the Nile River, Egypt is churning out ideas and projects to conserve water.
CAIRO — Ethiopia is carrying on with filling the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam reservoir, despite the lack of an agreement with the two downstream countries, Egypt and Sudan, threatening Cairo and Khartoum’s shares of the Nile water.
Egypt has responded by forming a strategy to deal with Addis Ababa's actions, starting with projects to reduce the effects of the GERD.
On July 28, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said in a speech at the opening of the Robbiki Industrial City that the state is seeking to save “every water drop” through modern irrigation projects with investments worth 1 trillion Egyptian pounds ($62.5 billion).
He stressed that Egyptians are right to be concerned about the GERD, adding, “We will set up a 20,000-kilometer (12,400-mile) concrete lining for canals to reduce water loss. The villagers are helping [with a canal lining project] and within a year, we will reduce water loss and maintain water in drains and canals,” Sisi said.
