The Egyptian Minister of Irrigation, Dr. Mohamed Abdel-Aty, confirmed, on Saturday, that any shortage of water resources coming to Egypt as a result of the Ethiopian dam will cause severe damage to his country, indicating that the shortage of one billion cubic meters of Nile water will cause the loss of 200
He said in press statements that Egypt is one of the driest countries in the world, and suffers from great water scarcity, and Egypt’s water resources are estimated at about 60 billion cubic meters annually from Most of the water comes from the Nile River, in addition to very limited amounts of rain, which are estimated at only one billion cubic meters. In contrast, the total water needs in Egypt reach about 114 billion cubic meters annually.
As he explained Preparing a strategy for water resources until 2050 at a cost of up to 50 billion dollars, and it can be increased to 100 billion dollars, and water plans have been developed until 2037 that depend on four axes, including rationalizing water use, improving water quality, providing additional water sources, and preparing Climate for optimal water management.
Protection of Egypt’s interests
This was the Egyptian Foreign Minister Sa Moh Shoukry stressed that his country will defend the rights of its citizens by all available means, stressing that negotiations must take place within a specific time frame, following the end of the Security Council session on the Renaissance Dam, Thursday.
He said that Egypt It recognized Ethiopia’s right to build the dam, but it – that is, Egypt – wants to protect its interests, adding that the Ethiopian side wants to continue negotiating indefinitely.
Negotiations without any result
It is noteworthy that since 2011, the three countries (Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia) have been negotiating to reach an agreement on filling and operating This dam, which absorbs 74 billion cubic meters of water, is intended to be the largest source of hydroelectric power in Africa, with a capacity of 6,500 megawatts, with little result.
While Addis Ababa sees this project as necessary to achieve development Egypt considers it an existential threat to it, as the Nile provides the country with about 97% of its irrigation and drinking water, and Khartoum sees it as a threat to it.
In March 2015, the leaders of the three countries signed in Khartoum a Declaration of Principles agreement with the aim of transcend Due to differences, however, obstacles still appear since then.
