The significance of Gulf involvement was highlighted by the . Flashcards. 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. Cairo - U.S. Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa Ambassador Mike Hammer met with senior Egyptian government officials on July 25 to advance a diplomatic resolution on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) that supports the water needs, economy, and livelihood of all Egyptians, Sudanese, and Ethiopians. Ethiopias dam-construction strategy threatens not only Kenyas water-resource development efforts but also Somalias water security, as is evidenced by Ethiopias development plans for the Jubba and Shebelle Rivers. UN ready to promote 'win-win solution' for Blue Nile dam project Egypt wants control and guarantees for its share of Nile waters. Ethiopia could argue that those imperial powers did not foresee the decolonisation of Africa and that this represented a watershed event that profoundly changed the foundation on which the Nile Water Treaties were constructed. As stipulated by an Agreement of 1959 (see:Nile Main Conflict), Egypt and Sudan presented for several decades a common position vis--vis other riparians regarding the utilisation and management of Nile waters. Already, on June 19, 2020, Egyptian authorities called upon the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to intervene after tripartite talks had failed to secure an agreement on the filling schedule for the GERD. Why is the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam contentious? Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, Ethiopia - Webuild Project River Nile dam: Why Ethiopia can't stop it being filled Poverty alleviation, which is a major concern for all Nile Basin countries, could form the basis of a cooperative arrangement between all the Niles riparians. Benefits from the Nile's Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam - Rural 21 The Grand Renaissance Dam and prospects for cooperation on the Eastern Nile. l It is in the Benishangul-Gumuz Region of Ethiopia, about 15 km east of the border with Sudan. Could the Nile dispute be an opportunity to boost freshwater technology? This was an attempt at a wholesale replacement for the Nile Waters Treaties. What are the disadvantages of the Aswan Dam? The three countries have agreed that when the flow of Nile water to the dam falls below 35-40 b.c.m. This has now changed due to political consolidation over the past two decades and the advent of alternative sources of external finance (to the traditional multilateral development banks), not least from China (Gebreluel, 2014;IDS, 2013). For example, Ethiopians and Egyptians are more likely to understand and appreciate the challenges that they face, particularly in the areas of water security, climate change, food production, and poverty alleviation, if they regularly interact with each other and engage in more bottom-up, participatory and inclusive approaches to the resolution of their conflicts. On March 4, 1982, Bertha Wilson became the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada. It also codified the principles of equitable and reasonable utilisation and no significant harm (essentially importing from the Watercourses Convention). The dispute has prompted numerous international interventions, including by Gulf Arab states, which have issued political statements and led mediation efforts. Both citizens and governments should be made part of the solution to the water-related conflicts that now threaten peace and security in the Nile Basin. After announcing the dam's construction, and with a view to the increasing tensions, the Ethiopian government invited both Egypt and Sudan to form an International Panel of Experts (IPoE) to solicit understanding of the benefits, costs and impacts of the GERD. Egypt says. It merely provides at Article III that Ethiopia undertakes not to construct any work across the Blue Nile, Lake Tsana, or the Sobat which would arrest the flow of their waters into the Nile. In other words, Ethiopia only agreed that it would not completely stop the flow of tributaries into the Nile. Indeed, as Tekuya notes, Ethiopia persistently objected to the 1929 and 1959 treaties and made clear that its failure to exploit the Nile resulted from a lack of capacity rather than a lack of a legal right to do so. Over the years, Egypt has used its extensive diplomatic connections and the colonial-era 1929 and 1959 agreements to successfully prevent the construction of any major infrastructure projects on the tributaries of the Nile. In its 2013 report, the International Rivers Organisation predicted that the long-term effects of the Gibe III Dam would turn Lake Turkana into another Aral Sea. In addition, no independent, multilateral Environmental and Social Impact Assessments has been carried out suggesting that Ethiopia is reneging from the 2015 Declaration of Principles (Kandeel, 2020). Chinese banks provided financing for the purchase of the turbines and electrical equipment for the hydroelectric plants. It and several other large dams in Ethiopia could turn the country into Africa's hydropower hub. The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam: Source of cooperation or - USGS Another argument Egypt might adduce concerns the DoP. . In March 2015, a 'Declaration of Principles' was signed by the leaders of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia, setting the foundations for an initial cooperation (Salman, 2017). It signifies that Egypts de facto veto power on major upstream dams has been broken, and it clearly demonstrates the political will of Ethiopia to develop its water infrastructure even in the absence of a comprehensive basin agreement. Copyright 2023, JURIST Legal News & Research Services, Inc. Elliot Winter | New Castle University (UK), Egyptian Water Security and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam: Why Ethiopia has the Upper Hand, Vienna Convention on the Succession of States, history of copyright in the United States. 1800m long and 170m high. Cameroon's Choupo-Moting scores winner as Bayern reclaim Bundesliga top.. English Premier League results & fixtures (26th matchday), Germany Bundesliga results & fixtures (23rd matchday), Israeli delegation expelled from the African Union summit. Trilateral talks between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan to finalise an agreement on a cooperation framework for the GERD have been mediated by the African Union, World Bank and United States. Created by. The first filling of the dam in July 2020 went uneventfully. Second, as also noted above, the Dam is to be used for electricity generation, not irrigation. Across Ethiopia, poor farmers and rich business executives alike . Impacts of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on Downstream Countries 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. The Chinese then took over the funding amidst heightened international concern regarding the social, technical, and environmental repercussions of the Ethiopian dams. IDS (2013). Turning then to Ethiopia. It will be the largest hydropower project in Africa. Water Politics and the Gulf States: The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam The Watercourses Convention aims to regulate the uses, as well as the conservation, of all transboundary waters above and below the surface. The 1902 Treaty did not preclude Ethiopia from undertaking works that might reduce, but not arrest, the flow of waters. The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam will have negative impacts not only on Egypt but also on poor communities in Ethiopia as well as on its Nile Basin neighbours. For a decade, Egypt and Ethiopia have been at a diplomatic stalemate over the Nile's management. Moreover, with GERD, Ethiopia opts for a hydropower expansion strategy on the Blue Nile, and not an irrigation strategy. At the same. Water scarcity is a growing problem. It is therefore intrinsically connected with the question of land ownership. Similarly, both the final agreement between the riparian states for the allocation of the water and resources of the Nile should include a dispute resolution mechanism. 67K views 6 months ago ETIOPIA The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, on the Blue Nile, is located around 14 km upstream of the Ethiopian-Sudan Border, at around 700 km from the Capital. per year, that would constitute a drought and, according to Egypt and Sudan, Ethiopia would have to release some of the water in the dams reservoir to deal with the drought. First came the 1999 Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA). 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. Ultimately, however, Egypt did not sign the CFA (nor did Sudan) hence it does not resolve the dispute. Faced with the anachronistic Nile Waters Treaties on the one hand and the absence of a suitable replacement on the other, discussions about the Dam have fallen into something of a stalemate. The Eastern Nile Basin comprises Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia. The Nile-COM is the highest political and decisionmaking body of the NBI. 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. The Ethiopian government is spending $4.7 billion to construct the 1,780-meter dam across the Blue Nile. In contrast, other watercourse states on the Nile have lent their support to the Dam. The Kenyan Lake is heavily dependent on the fresh water and vital nutrients supplied by the rivers annual floods, making it a paradise for fisheries. The Nile waters have historically been governed by the Nile Waters Treaties. These colonial-era agreements comprise (i) the 1902 Anglo-Ethiopian Treaty (with the UK representing modern-day Sudan); (ii) the 1929 Anglo-Egyptian Treaty (with the UK representing modern-day Kenya and Uganda) and (iii) the 1959 Egypt-Sudan Treaty (with the UK now absent as a result of decolonisation). Hence, it seems that such an argument would receive a warm welcome from the current bench were the matter ever to be adjudicated there. Egyptian Water Security and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam: Why 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.. This is a matter of acute concern given that Egypt depends on the Nile for about 97% of its irrigation and drinking water. No water at all was allocated to Ethiopia. Cooperation among the three countries has never been more important as demand for water rises, she added, due to factors such as population growth, urbanization and industrialization. The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, a 1.1-mile-long concrete colossus, is set to become the largest hydropower plant in Africa. In general, the Ethiopian development philosophy rests on two pillars: mega-dams and mega-agricultural projects. In July of 2021, the second filling of the dam was completed. when did construction of the dam begin? Ethiopia completes third filling of Blue Nile mega-dam reservoir On 5 July 2021, Ethiopia informed Egypt and Sudan that the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile in Ethiopia is undergoing its second filling. Kandeel, A. (DOC) Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam - Academia.edu Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) - ArcGIS StoryMaps Further, it means that this figure should be used to assess the impact of the Dam on the Egyptian economy for the purposes of calculating compensation resulting from loss of flow. Ultimately, all the water is allowed to pass downstream such that there is no net loss of flow (with the exception of water lost to evaporation). As mentioned above, Ethiopias dam-construction strategy is intimately linked with large-scale foreign investment in the agrarian sector and specifically in areas near the artificial reservoirs created by the dams. Egypts Nile Water Policy under Sisi: Security Interests Promote Rapprochement with Ethiopia. A Grand New Dam on the Nile: The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam Crucially, however, neither Egypt nor Ethiopia are parties to the Watercourses Convention and so they are not bound by its terms. Mainly, for the downstream countries, the. Indeed, Sudan had initially opposed the Dam but changed its position in 2012 after consultations with Ethiopia. Concern has focused in particular on Lake Turkana, which derives 90 per cent of its water from the Omo River on which the Gilgel Gibe III Dam was built. More alarmingly, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak allegedly even considered bombing the Dam. The failure of the latest talks over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) has intensified tensions between Ethiopia and downstream states Egypt and Sudan. Filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) along the Blue Nile River is well under way near the Ethiopia-Sudan border. Note that, under Article 62(2) VCLT, territorial treaties are excepted from the change in circumstances rule. First woman appointed to the Canada Supreme Court. Ethiopia and Egypt Are Fighting Over the Nile River. The United States Match facts: Egypts Ahly v South Africas Mamelodi Sundowns (CAF Champions.. Kevin Harts first Egypt show cancelled 'due to local logistical issues', Match facts: Sudans Al-Hilal v Egypts Ahly (CAF Champions League), Match facts: Egypts Ahly v Cameroons Coton Sport (CAF Champions League), Egyptian Premier League results & scorers (20th matchday), Spain La Liga results & scorers (21st matchday), 13 Egyptian women on Forbes Middle East 100 Most Powerful businesswomen 2023, Egyptian Premier League results & fixtures (18th matchday), English Premier League results & scorers (23rd matchday), Prioritising the best solutions for sustainable development, A new beginning for education and beyond, Prioritizing the UN's Global Development Agenda, US-Africa Leaders Summit: Between expectations and realities. It is clearly a philosophy that looks beyond the electricity and freshwater needs of local communities to a geo-strategic restructuring of the Horn of Africa. The US has revived diplomatic efforts to resolve the dispute sparked by Ethiopia's Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) project on the Nile. Thus, it is only through cooperation that Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan, and the other riparians can peacefully resolve conflicts over the Nile and achieve the type of water use that will contribute significantly to regional economic and human development. Hence, it is hard to see how Egypt could make a compelling argument that it has been harmed by the Dam. 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. Given agricultures importance to pro-poor economic growth, Egypt, which has significant experience and expertise in irrigation agriculture, can share some of that expertise with other countries in exchange for increased trade with them. 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. The Untold Story of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam The above-mentioned Gilgel Gibe III Dam stood out as the worlds most controversial dam until the GERD. Third, Egypt should abandon continued references to its so-called natural historical rights (i.e., the water rights granted Egypt by the 1929 Anglo-Egyptian Treaty and the 1959 Agreement between Egypt and Sudan). Ethiopia argues that developing this resource is crucial to its economic development, and to overcoming poverty and famine, that have plagued the country in the past. Perhaps the most obvious argument that Ethiopia may want to make is a rebuttal to Egypts continued reliance on the Nile Water Treaties. Although the case has been dropped, the organisations work focused international attention on the dams potential detrimental impacts on the lakes habitat. Egypt has taken various efforts in a bid to secure its water security in the context of the Nile River. Workers move iron girders from a crane at the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), near Guba, Ethiopia, on Dec. 26, 2019. When it is completed, with its concrete volume of 10.2 million m3, GERD will feature the largest dam in Africa. 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. Omar, A. Today, however, Ethiopia is building the Grand Renaissance Dam and, with it, Ethiopia will physically control the Blue Nile Gorgethe primary source of most of the Nile waters.