Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing AG, 79-110. Basically, Ethiopia should cooperate with the other riparian states in developing and adopting an effective drought mitigation protocol, one that includes the possibility that GERD managers may have to release water from the reservoir, when necessary, to mitigate droughts. Furthermore, resolving conflicts involving the Nile River is most likely to be more successful through improvements in relations between the riparians and not through external intervention. It also created a counter message to Egypts powerful the Nile is Egypt narrative that is familiar around the world. Search for jobs related to Disadvantages of the grand ethiopian renaissance dam or hire on the world's largest freelancing marketplace with 22m+ jobs. You can revoke your consent to the site operator at any time by unsubscribing from the newsletter. On Foes and Flows: Vulnerabilities, Adaptive Capacities and Transboundary Relations in the Nile River Basin in Times of Climate Change. The Nile is not a boundary-delimiting river, hence Ethiopia would almost certainly argue that the exception should not be applied here. As noted above, the instrument concedes for the first time that Ethiopia has legitimate interests over the Nile. Both countries are concerned that without a clear and binding agreement with Ethiopia, the latter will have full control of the passage of water from the GERD during droughts, which would be devastating to the lives of millions in Egypt and Sudan. Most recently, there have been suggestions that the African Union should resolve the disagreement. But with a generation capacity of 6.45GW, the Ethiopian government quoted the project as vital to the country's economic growth. In terms of the old or anachronistic law, two of the Nile Water Treaties do not bind Ethiopia meanwhile the third does not actually preclude the construction of a dam. According to some estimates, the Ethiopian government had to arrange for the resettlement of 1.5 million people in the four regions of Gambela, Somali, Afar, and Benishangul-Gumuz. The former was initially funded by the World Bank and the European Investment Bank, but these later withdrew for legal and other reasons. While the water will return to its normal state before reaching Egypt, the damage to these populations will be permanent. In my opinion, this should be negotiable, to fill the lake over a longer period, and only when the river is sufficiently full. Turning then to Ethiopia. Success on this endeavor will only occur under a legally binding regime that ensures mutually beneficial rights. Churning waters: Strategic shifts in the Nile basin. The Eastern Nile Basin comprises Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia. Von Lossow, T. & Roll, S. (2015). The Blue Nile is Ethiopias largest river, with high potential for hydropower and irrigation. His research indicates that rapid filling of the reservoir could lead to severe economic losses, though he notes that expanding groundwater extraction, adjusting the operation of Egypt's Aswan High Dam, and cultivating crops that require less water could help offset some of the impact. To date, no significant harm has been caused to Egypt or Sudan as a result of the ongoing construction of the GERD. By Ambassador Gurjit Singh*. Disadvantages Slow process Could be washed to the wrong direction Start up costs Lesson 4: Long term investment, It can't cope with he propagation rate of water hyacinth. In my opinion, this should be negotiable, to fill the lake over a longer period, and only when the river is sufficiently full. Ethiopia has never 'consumed' significant shares of the Nile's water so far, as its previous political and economic fragility in combination with a lack of external financial support, due to persistent Egyptian opposition to projects upstream, prevented it from implementing large-scale projects. If it were to take place during a sequence of years in which the Blue Nile flow and the AHD reservoir itself was low, Egypt might not be able to withdraw sufficient water supplies to meet all of its agricultural needs. Some have mythified it and claim it is the Gihon River of the Biblical Book of Genesis that encircles the entire land of Cush, thereby adding a religious dimension to the politicisation. However, as a result of the ability and willingness of Ethiopians at home and abroad to invest in the dam project, the government was able to raise a significant portion of the money needed to start the construction of the GERD. Sudans agricultural and hydropower interests align with those of Ethiopia while it has a strong interest in not alienating its 'big brother' and northern neighbour, Egypt, with whom it shares a long and partly contested border (Whittington et al., 2014). Salman, S.M.A. But the Ethiopian elites show little interest in addressing such concerns, bent as they are on a nationalist revivalist project that claims an Ethiopian exceptionalism that places Addis Ababa above international law as it pursues a water-management strategy that has less to do with its development aims than with its ambitions to weaponise water in a bid for regional hegemony. Water scarcity is a growing problem. An agreement between Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is within reach, with the United Nations standing ready to support talks and the African Union-led process to settle remaining differences, the Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs told the Security Council in a 29 June videoconference meeting*. These hydraulic mega-projects underscore the ambitious local and regional political aims of the Ethiopian ruling elites. Egypt accuses. Nevertheless, Khartoum continues to fear that the operation of the GERD could threaten the safety of Sudans own dams and make it much more difficult for the government to manage its own development projects. Challenges for water sharing in the Nile basin: changing geo-politics and changing climate. From this round of talks, it appears that negotiations are able to move forward and address other sticking points on the agenda, such as conflict resolution mechanisms and the dams operations in the event of multi-year droughts (Al Jazeera, 2020). Ethiopia is pinning its hopes of economic development and power generation on the dam. However, another trend stresses the need to approach the question from a broader and more holistic perspective. 4. We shall begin with the former. In the imperialist age, Ethiopian emperors threatened to alter the course of the Nile and stop its flow to Egypt. Egypt, fearing major disruptions to its access to the Niles waters, originally intended to prevent even the start of the GERDs construction. His successor, Mohamed Morsi, said that Egypt was prepared to defend each drop of Nile water with blood. An armed conflict has not emerged, but there are suggestions that Egyptian intelligence services undermined Ethiopia internally by assisting the Oromo Liberation Front in its campaign of civil unrest in Ethiopia in 2016. Nile Basins GERD dispute creates risks for Egypt, Sudan, and beyond. Another difficulty for Egypt is that making this argument (i.e. Ethiopia has two major plans for these rivers, which both flow into Somalia, in the form of the Wabe Shebelle and the Genale Dawa power plants. Already, the United States has threatened to withhold development aid to Ethiopia if the conflict is not resolved and an agreement reached. Following the fall of Mengistu Haile-Mariams regime in Ethiopia in 1991, Ethiopia experienced a remarkable rise in the construction of dams and hydroelectric power stations. Ultimately, however, Egypt did not sign the CFA (nor did Sudan) hence it does not resolve the dispute. In fact, about 85 % of the overall Nile flow originates on Ethiopian territory (Swain, 2011). The Nile-COM is the highest political and decisionmaking body of the NBI. They generate electricity, store water for crop irrigation and help to prevent floods. Still, Egypt may be playing with fire if it were to press the legal significance of the DoP. In the end, all 11 riparian states must understand that the way forward calls for the establishment of a meaningful resource-sharing agreement, one that sees and recognizes the Nile River as a regional watercourse. "Today as you see behind me . Indeed, Principle II notes that the purpose of the [Dam] is for power generation and regional integration through generation of sustainable and reliable clean energy supply. This is crucial given that hydroelectricity generation simply involves holding water back behind a dam for a period of time, and then releasing it again in a managed manner so that the electric turbines can spin consistently. Al Jazeera (2020). (eds.). Since its inception, there have been two, highly contentious, products. An argument could be made that some of its provisions have passed into customary international law, however, that would require clear general practice and opinio juris. The toll on the local communities affected by the dams has been enormous. Although Egypt has persistently argued that the 1959 agreement between Egypt and Sudan is the legal framework for the allocation of the waters of the Nile, Ethiopia and other upstream riparian states reject that argument. In contrast, other watercourse states on the Nile have lent their support to the Dam. It and several other large dams in Ethiopia could turn the country into Africa's hydropower hub. One senior advisor to former Ethiopian prime minister Meles Zenawi alluded to it when he said that Ethiopia will supply the electricity, Sudan the food, and Egypt the money. To which we might add, and South Sudan will supply the oil.. Another impressive snippet of information is that the Government of Ethiopia is financing the entire project, along with loans mainly from China. However, this threatens the basin's long-term sustainability (as water use expands beyond what is environmentally feasible) and suboptimal in terms of capital allocation (as higher water use upstream may make downstream projects uneconomical (Swain, 2011). Despite the intense disagreements, though, Ethiopia continues to move forward with the dam, arguing that the hydroelectric project will significantly improve livelihoods in the region more broadly. Still, if the exception was somehow activated, it would mean that Egypt remains entitled to 66% of the Nile River waters and that this figure should be used as the baseline for any future negotiations. It seeks to build an infrastructure for regional water hegemony, positioning it, at the very least, in such a way that it can exchange water for oil. A major reason the GERD is so controversial today is that it has not been subjected to thorough safety and impact studies, which could pose a grave threat to downriver nations. For more on the background and history of these important relationships, see my book with former AGI Director Mwangi S. Kimenyi, Governing the Nile River Basin: The Search for a New Legal Regime., not be filled without a legally binding agreement, when the flow of Nile water to the dam falls below 35-40 b.c.m. Therefore, all the water is eventually released downstream with the effect that there is no net loss of water to downstream states. This represents a new challenge to the basins current hydro-political regime and status quo, as it may drive Sudans interest in renegotiating its current quota(Link et al., 2012;Whittington et al., 2014). Learn. Second came the 2015 Declaration of Principles (DoP) which concerned the Dam specifically (rather than the Nile more broadly). This is on the basis of the principles of State succession as outlined in the Vienna Convention on the Succession of States (VCSS). Water Policy, 16(4), 595-608. Egypt, which lies 1,600 miles downstream of the Dam, believes its operation will reduce the amount of fresh water available to it from the Nile. Nevertheless, it is important to take stock of the human costs, social problems, and lasting environmental impacts of this strategy which have already drawn considerable criticism and concern. In any event, the dispute remains. For Ethiopia, GERD is considered an economic game-changer. 2. Construction on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam began in 2011 and it is currently nearing completion. The filling regime and operational methods of GERD will affect Egypt, in particular through its impact on the operation of its Aswan High Dam (AHD) which aims at mitigating the high variability of the Nile River flow.
How To Describe Yourself In An Interview,
Difference Between Msnbc Contributor And Analyst,
Oksigjeni Ne Gjak 88,
Jet2 Advert 2020 Actress,
Difference Between Mikasa V200w And V300w,
Articles D