The River Nile

CONFLICT BETWEEN ETHIOPIA AND EGYPT

Student G | E-9A | IS | 8/12/16

Table of Contents
1. Introduction.........2
2. River System Overview...3
2.1. Map of the river system.3
2.2. Key characteristics.3
3. River system issues.......4
3.1. Identification of key issues....4
3.2. Cause of key issues and Who is affected by them....4
3.3. Impacts on the environment and people.6
3.4. Solution to key conflicts7
4. Conclusion.7
5. References.8
6. Appendices....10

Figures
1. A map of the location of the river Nile3
2. A picture of the construction of the GERD dam..5

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1. Introduction
Egypt has been using the river Nile as a main water resource for centuries.
Ancient Egyptians used the soil along the Nile for themselves and their animals or
to produce food. "Egyptians are worried about uncertainties surrounding
Ethiopia's schedule for storing Nile water behind the walls of the Grand Ethiopian
Renaissance Dam." (al-monitor) This is a big issue for Egyptians, since they have
and still strongly depend on the Nile as one of their main resources. It is said that
Egypt's 87 million citizens would have to leave the country if the Nile was to stop
sending water to Egypt. Since Egypt is located in the desert, the only thing keeping
it running is the Nile. Egypt would have major problems, if their water source were
to get cut off.

In order to prevent disastrous events, it is important to understand each

countrys point of view. The British have asked all the countries surrounding the
Nile to sign an agreement, which gave Egypt many privileges, such as the right to
deny constructions regarding the Nile. As expected, other countries questioned the
fact that Egypt had more privileges over the Nile. Other conflicts must also be
considered, to determine the severeness of each issue. If all of these issues can be
solved as soon as possible, it would be beneficial.

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2. River system overview
Below the key characteristics of the Nile river will be discussed along with a
map that shows an overview of the river basin.

2.1. Map of the river system

Figure 1

Pictured on the left (Figure 1) is a

map of the Nile river basin. It shows all of its
tributaries along with the countries that the
Nile flows through.

2.2. Key characteristics

The river Nile is located in North
Africa. It is 6,852km long, making it the
longest river in Africa and the longest river
in the world. Currently it is still being
argued if the Nile is in fact the longest river
in the world, since the Amazon river might
be longer. However, this is not confirmed,
since where the Amazon river actually starts
is a subject of debate. The Nile's river basin
area lies at 3.4 million km2, making it one of
the largest river basin areas in the world.
The river Nile flows from south to north
through a total of 11 countries: Ethiopia,
Egypt, Sudan, Uganda, the Democratic
Republic of Congo, Kenya, Tanzania,
Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and Eritrea. It is the main water source for 83
million Egyptians.

There are two main tributaries that form the Nile: The Blue Nile and the
White Nile. The Blue Nile is said to originate in Lake Tana located in Ethiopia
whereas the White Nile originates in Lake No in South Sudan.

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 The Blue Nile is so-called because of the flooding. When the river overflows,
it turns to a nearly black colour, and the words blue and black are the same in
Sudanese. It is also the main source of the Nile as it provides 80% of the waters.
The White Nile gets its name from light grey clay sentiment laying in the water,
which gives the river both its colour and name. The blue Nile is 1,450km long and
the White Nile is 3,700km long. The two rivers meet in Khartoum, the capital of
Sudan, forming the Nile and flowing towards the mouth: the Mediterranean Sea.

3. River system issues

3.1. Identification of key issues
The main issue concerning the river Nile is the conflict between Ethiopia and
Egypt. Ethiopia is currently building a dam, called the Grand Ethiopian
Renaissance Dam, that will cut off water for all the countries following the river.
(Appendix 1) Especially Egypt does not agree with the construction of this dam at
all, since it strongly relies on the Nile river and has for centuries. Ancient Egypt
only existed, because of the Nile. Egyptians would not have been able to survive if
it weren't for the flooding of the Nile, which provided moisture for crops that grew
beside it. The Nile is the main water resource in Egypt, since it rarely ever rains
due to its location: the desert Sahara. It is located in the desert and is one of the
few countries that almost completely rely on the Nile for their water needs.
"Officials in the Ministry of Irrigation claim Egypt will lose 20 to 30 percent of its
share of Nile water and nearly a third of the electricity generated by its Aswan
High Dam." (CommonDreams) On the other hand, countries that lie upstream of
the Nile need resources as well for their growing population.

3.2. Cause of key issues and who is affected by them

The first incident leading to the now developing conflict between Egypt and
Ethiopia was in 2011. That is when Ethiopia first started building a $4.2 billion
Grand Renaissance Dam. (Figure 2) In June 2013 Egypt's former president
Mohamed Morsi said that if Ethiopia were to continue developing dams on the
Nile river Cairo would fight for it using any options they have including military
intervention. Thankfully this never happened, nobody thought much more of it.
Officials still hope for a diplomatic solution, but other sources confirm Egypt's
military intervention, since they are very serious about defending its main water
resource.

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Figure 2

It is said that if Ethiopia proceeds

with the construction of the dam, a
military strike seems nearly
impossible to avoid.

Ethiopia insists that the dam

will have no harmful effect on
Egypt's waters. The 6,000-
megawatt hydroelectric project is
supposed to help lead the country of poverty and provide self-sufficient energy.
According to Ayman Shabaana of the Cairo-based Institute for Africa Studies,
"Ethiopia's move was unprecedented. Never before has an upstream state
unilaterally built a dam without downstream approval." (CommonDreams) In
addition to this rather shocking fact, Ethiopia's project is said to become Africa's
largest hydroelectric dam. As mentioned before, Ethiopia insists that the dam is
just a hydroelectric project, but it is also part of an even bigger project that
involves a minimum of three other dams on the Nile.

While Ethiopia sees the dam as an essential to the country's economic

future, hence the dams name, Egypt sees nothing but a huge threat. As I have
previously stated, the British have quite a strong influence when it comes to this
conflict. In 1959, the British divided the Nile between Sudan and Egypt, completely
disregarding the fact that the sources of the Nile lie in upstream states. In the same
year, the British had an agreement that resulted in an extremely unfair dividing of
the Nile in the same year: 55.5 billion cubic meters of the Nile's 84 billion cubic
meter average annual flow was given to Egypt, while Sudan only received 18.5
billion cubic meters. 10 billion cubic meters were lost due to evaporation in Lake
Nasser, created by the Aswan High Dam in Egypt in the 1970s. It barely left any
water of the shared Nile water for a total of nine other countries. This is the reason
for Egypt's arguing that it's entitled to no less and at least two-thirds of the Nile
and has the right to deny or allow any upstream water projects.

There were many countries that desired an equal distribution of the Nile,
which lead to the 2010 Entebbe Agreement. This agreement permits countries any
kind of activity as long as it does not significantly impact the water of other Nile
basin states. Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Ethiopia and Kenya signed the accord
with Burundi following a year later. Egypt was strongly against this agreement and

PAGE 5
rejected it right away. Decades later, Egypt is in a rather difficult situation as its
power over the Nile is slowly being taken away from then. Ethiopia still stands by
its statement that the dam will have minimal and no harmful impact on the river's
waters. The dam is expected to develop the country as well as expand downstream
irrigation capacity and improving flood control. There are studies that indicate
improvement for downstream states as well. If the dams are managed properly and
appropriately could reduce damage caused by floods and increase Egypt's overall
water share. The studies also say that less water will be lost to evaporation in the
cooler climate of Ethiopia.

3.3. Impacts on the environment and people

As mentioned before there will be a huge impact on the people and
environment downstream of the river.

Dams are damaging to the environment in general, to marine life for

example. Fish migration is blocked due to the dam wall. Some species completely
separate from their habitats. Another critical effect would be the trapping of
sediments. Dams intercept them and by doing so, damage the physical processes
and habitats downstream of the dam. It also holds back naturally replenishing
sediments for the downstream ecosystem. Within the first decade of closing the
dam riverbeds downstream can erode by several meters. This damage can extent
up to a few hundred kilometers downstream of a dam.

Egypt specifically, is afraid that there will be water reduction due to the
permanent water reduction of 20%-30%, which is caused by evaporation and the
filling of the dam reservoir. The filling of the reservoir is said to take five to ten
years. The large amount of water that is lost will affect the approximately 2 million
farmers working downstream of the Nile. It will cause their crops to fail, which will
impact their income and that might result in poverty. This another unnecessary
problem caused by the main one.

Upstream of the dam will be other significant impacts. This includes

changes in dissolved oxygen levels, temperature and chemical composition. More
often than not, the physical properties of the dam reservoir are not ideal for any
marine life that naturally evolved in a river system. The change in a river's flow and
sediment transport alter the environment significantly. Even small changes in the
timing and quantity of water flow have a huge impact on both marine and riparian
life.

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 Once the environment is damaged, people relying on that specific
environment are impacted as well. As mentioned before, Egypt relies heavily on
the Nile, since it is its main water source. The water is used for fertilizing their
crops. It is also used for transport, just like it was used in ancient Egypt. The Nile is
used for trading purposes, like it was many decades ago and for transporting
tourists as well. Egypt's population is also said to double within the next 50 years,
putting even more pressure on the citizens and their scarce water resources. It's 83
million citizens would have to leave the country as there would no longer be
enough water to sustain all of the citizens.

Around 20,000 Egyptian citizens are currently being relocated, According to

an independent researcher. Many of them dont understand what is going on and
dont even know what a dam is let alone its effects.

3.4. Solution to key conflicts

Currently there is still no solution to the conflicts. Ethiopia is not going to
cave in and stop the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Dam. 70% of the dam
have already been built in June 2016 according to DailyNewsEgypt. Besides that,
this conflict is based on political issues and cannot be solved by using science or
anything similar. This conflict can only be solved by the involved countries: Egypt
and Ethiopia.

An ideal solution would include each involved government inspecting the

damn according to their countrys needs. This way each country could assess the
dam accordingly to their countries concern and predict the impact of the Nile.
This would be ideal since Egypt has to be able to understand why Ethiopia is
building the dam in the first place, while Ethiopia needs to understand that Egypt
has some rights over the Nile and cannot construct a huge dam without thinking
of the consequences of the countries that lie downstream of the Nile.

4. Conclusion
The conflict between Ethiopia and Egypt has to be solved as soon as possible.
It is crucial for all the parties involved. Ethiopia created the dam for economic
development and national pride. The country has been suffering from poverty for a
long time and has found a way out of it. However they have to understand that
building a dam does not affect Ethiopia alone. Other countries downstream of the
river suffer from consequences as well. But not only countries will be effected, the

PAGE 7
environment and everything in it will be as well. Many people will have to seek
refuge in other countries as they would no longer be able to sustain themselves.

To conclude, if the dam turns out to have little and no harmful effect on the
downstream states, there is nothing speaking against finishing and actually using
the dam. However right now, that is not the case and there are a number of
reasons why the damn shouldnt be built for the sake of every party involved. If the
countries do not come up with a solution soon, it will not only effect the millions
of people living in Ethiopia and Egypt but it will also affect the world, since the
affected countrys citizens will have to seek refuge in other countries.

5. References
"Ancient Egypt." Ducksters, www.ducksters.com/history/ancient_egypt/
geography_nile_river.php. Accessed 11 Jan. 2017.

"Blue Nile." New World Encyclopedia, www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/

Blue_Nile. Accessed 10 Jan. 2017.

"The Blue Nile River." All Africa Facts, allafricafacts.com/

the-blue-nile-river/. Accessed 10 Jan. 2017.

"The Conflict between Egypt and Ethiopia over the Nile River." Iakal Wordpress,
iakal.wordpress.com/2015/08/09/
the-conflict-between-egypt-and-ethiopia-over-the-nile/. Accessed 10 Jan.
2017.

"Conflict on the Nile." FutureDirections International,

www.futuredirections.org.au/publication/
conflict-on-the-nile-the-future-of-transboundary-water-disputes-over-the-
world-s-
longest-river/. Accessed 14 Dec. 2016.

"Environmental Impacts of Dams." International Rivers,

www.internationalrivers.org/environmental-impacts-of-dams. Accessed 14 Dec.
2016.

"Ethiopia Close to Finishing 70% of Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam."

DailyNews Egypt, www.dailynewsegypt.com/2016/05/28/
ethiopia-close-to-finishing-70-of-grand-ethiopian-renaissance-dam/.
Accessed 14 Jan. 2017.

PAGE 8
"Ethiopia's Nile Dam Project Signals Its Intention to Become an African Power."
TheGuardian, news.mit.edu/2015/
grand-ethiopian-renaissance-dam-report-0422. Accessed 15 Jan. 2017.

"How the Nile River Works." HowStuffWorks, adventure.howstuffworks.com/

nile-river2.htm. Accessed 11 Jan. 2017.

"Interesting Facts about Nile River." Interesting Facts, igentry.blogspot.sg/

2008/09/interesting-facts-about-nile-river.html. Accessed 15 Dec. 2016.

"International Experts Analyze Ipacts of Ethiopian Dam." Massachussets Institute

of Technology, news.mit.edu/2015/
grand-ethiopian-renaissance-dam-report-0422. Accessed 14 Jan. 2017.

"An Introduction to Ancient Egypt." Social Studies for Kids,

www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/worldhistory/introancientegypt1.htm.
Accessed 14 Dec. 2016.

"Nile River Dam Threatens War between Egypt and Ethiopia." CommonDreams,
www.commondreams.org/news/2014/03/22/
nile-river-dam-threatens-war-between-egypt-and-ethiopia. Accessed 13 Jan.
2017.

"The Nile River: Its Mouth and Other Interesting Facts." Bright Hub Education,
www.brighthubeducation.com/help-with-geography/
90780-the-mouth-of-the-nile-river-and-other-facts/. Accessed 13 Dec. 2016.

"Nile Valley Water Conflict." InformedComment, www.juancole.com/2016/06/

conflict-ethiopias-renaissance.html. Accessed 12 Jan. 2017.

"The River Nile." Ancient Egypt,

www.primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk/egypt/nile.htm#3.
Accessed 15 Jan. 2017.

"Water Wars Intensify between Egypt. Ethiopia." Al-Monitor, www.al-

monitor.com/
pulse/originals/2016/03/
egypt-ethiopia-renaissance-dam-water-storage-nile-dispute.html. Accessed 10
Jan. 2017.

PAGE 9
"GERD Dam." venturesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/
The-Grand-Ethiopia-Renaissance-Dam-GERD-under-construction-but-almost-
completed-h
as-caused-much-consternation-in-Egypt..jpg.

Location of the GERD Dam. e360.yale.edu/images/features/

Ethiopian-Renaissance-Dam-cropped.png.

Map of the River Basin. d2ouvy59p0dg6k.cloudfront.net/img/

nile_basin_map_353792.jpg.

Nile River. interesting-africa-facts.com/Images/Nile-River.jpg.

Appendices
1. Location of the dam

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