On 20/02/2022 the Prime Minister of Ethiopia inaugurated the dam when the reservoir contained 18 billion cubic meters. At the end of the procedure, the reservoir will contain 70 billion cubic meters
Dr. Assaf Rosenthal
In the past I have already referred to the Nile basin in connection withYou built the Ethiopian dam on the Blue Nile. Now, when the operation of the dam has begun despite Egyptian and Sudanese protests, it is appropriate to go back and describe the course of events that led to the current situation.
Two branches of the Nile: the White Nile which originates in Lake Victoria which is shared by Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya, and the Blue Nile which originates in Lake Tana in the highlands of Ethiopia. According to an estimate from 1929, the capacity of the two arms together is about 85 billion cubic meters per year where about 85% is provided by the Blue Nile and 15% by the White Nile. Even today, the Nile is Egypt's almost unique source of water, hence its importance and vitality to Egypt. The importance of the Nile was clear to the British who controlled Egypt and the Suez Canal, therefore there was government support in the search for its sources. Travels and discoveries that led to the colonization of Kenya and Uganda,
In order to protect Egypt and the Suez Canal, the British dictated a "treaty" that gave Egypt an advantage in controlling and using theThe river.
Despite the attempts of upstream countries to change the "contract" to this day, the Egyptians and the Sudanese continue to demand this advantage, in 1959 a renewed "contract" was enforced that allocated to the Egyptians 56 billion cubic meters per year, which is about 66% of the total flow And for Sudan 18 billion cubic meters per year, which is about 22% of the total supply,
That is, according to the renewed "contract". Egypt and Sudan were allocated 84% of the total flow of the Nile. When 10% was calculated as evaporation and percolation, the upstream countries were allowed to use about 6% of the total flow of the river.
The "contract" gave Egypt and Sudan the right of veto over any construction or development project on the Nile or its branches.
In order to change and cancel the dictates of the British, the countries of the Nile Basin, including Sudan and Egypt, began discussions and the development of an outline that would allow fair use of the river's water,
However, Egypt and Sudan refused to sign the agreement on the grounds that it did not "recognize their historical right".
To bypass the disagreements between Sudan and Egypt, it was established in 1999.Organization of the Nile Basin States” which allowed the opening of the historical “contract” and discussions on redistribution of the river water,
The establishment of the organization gave Ethiopia itself permission to build the dam on the Blue Nile, despite the opposition of Egypt and Sudan. According to Ethiopia's claim, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, built on the Blue Nile at a distance of about 40 km from the border of Sudan, will also give an advantage to Sudan and Egypt by mitigating seasonal changes and the possibility of increasing the flow in dry seasons, which will increase the production of electricity at the Aswan Dam in Egypt . In addition, Sudan will be able to purchase part of the electricity produced by the dam.
The main concern of Egypt and Sudan is that during the filling of the huge reservoir created at the back of the dam, the flow will decrease, so they demanded that the filling continue over An extended time that will be decided before the filling begins.
The discussions continued until last year which according to Egypt failed because of Ethiopia, But many blame you The "contract" from the British era according to which Egypt and Sudan have historical rights.
Since the negotiations failed, Ethiopia began filling the dam in 2020, and it turns out that the filling did not affect the flow down the river, perhaps because of seasons when the amounts of rain were much higher than average.
On 20/02/2022 the Prime Minister of Ethiopia inaugurated the dam when the reservoir contained 18 billion cubic meters. At the end of the procedure, the reservoir will contain 70 billion cubic meters. The main purpose in building the dam is to generate electricity. Today, Ethiopia's main source of electricity comes from burning biomass, and the electricity from the dam will replace all current generation, will enable supply to remote areas and will also leave electricity for sale to neighbors. Electricity supplied to industry and agricultural farms will enable high production capacity and improve the standard of living of millions, clean electricity will reduce damage to the environment in general and forests in particular.
It is important to note that, unlike many other dams, this dam does not cause environmental damage and since it is an existing fact, it should be used in an optimal way that will benefit Ethiopia and its neighbors.
Since we have relations and connections with the three countries, it is hoped that now that the dam is built and producing electricity without harming the flow down the river, the objections from Sudan and Egypt will disappear and relations will improve.
More of the topic in Hayadan:
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Number of comments a. To my father who is disturbed by the Egyptians not making the desert bloom. I have news for you my complaining father. Israel has a lot to learn from the intensity with which Egypt, since the peace accords, has transformed vast desert areas in the Western Desert, the Eastern Desert, the Sinai Desert, and along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, into blooming fields, vacation resorts, and modern cities for Egyptian citizens. For comparison, if the Ethiopian dam is designed to store 17 billion cubic meters, the high dam built by the Egyptians in Aswan stored 150 billion cubic meters of water behind it, and created the huge Lake Nasser that flowed towards territories in Sudan. third. The Egyptians also understand that stopping the flow of Nile water from Ethiopia to Sudan to their territory is temporary, because the purpose of the dam is first and foremost to generate electricity, and in order to generate the electricity, the Nile water must be flowed north to Sudan and Egypt, and a Redeemer came to Zion.
Why do they have peace with Israel???? Let them begin with massive desalination.
They do not have a problem of energy (gas and oil), or in any case, the possibility of producing green energy from the sun and for a long time.
They can blossom the desert, just as Israel does, but they are still stuck thousands of years back, leaning on the Nile.
Here comes another new war... Egypt will attack Ethiopia in Putin style. There is no peace in this world.
"Cube" means a cubic meter.
Dams along the river will eventually probably result in optimal utilization of the water. The basins that are created must be used wisely and in every possible way. Not just for generating electricity. The development of terrestrial and marine agriculture is a worthy and good complement to such a grandiose project