Egyptian Irrigation Minister Mohamed Abdel-Ati on Friday said unilateral actions taken by Ethiopia related to the controversial Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) have harmed Egypt and Sudan, reported Ahram Online.
In a speech via video conference during the “Water Security in the Framework of Climate Change” meeting on Friday, the irrigation minister spoke about the latest developments in the GERD issue.
Egypt and Sudan have long demanded Ethiopia to enter a fair and legally binding agreement on the filling and operation of the GERD, but the Ethiopian government has refused every time. After the last round of negotiation talks led by the African Union in April stalled, Ethiopia unilaterally commenced with the second filling of the dam in May.
“These unilateral decisions had an impact on the ecosystem and social system like in the case of Sudan,” the Egyptian Irrigation Minister Abdel-Ati said, referring to the impact caused by the first and second fillings of the dam.
The minister said Egypt has already offered Ethiopia several alternatives to unilateral action, including an option that enables the dam to generate electricity up to 85 percent of its capacity even in cases of drought.
He also added that a legal agreement on the Nile dam would allow for coordinating responses to climate change, mitigating its negative effects. He stated that a number of studies have raised questions about the dam’s safety, which are legitimate concerns for downstream countries like Egypt.
The Egyptian minister pointed out the huge discrepancy in the volume of water resources between Egypt and upstream countries.
“Egypt depends on one river, the Nile, for 97% of its needs whereas upstream countries enjoy huge water abundance as the amount of rain that falls ranges from 1600-2000 billion cubic metres of water annually,” Abdel-Ati said.
He added that other countries can use rainwater for agriculture and irrigation purposes and have other rivers than the Nile, like Ethiopia has 12 rivers.
