Conflict over the River Nile - Case Study Flashcards
Background Information on the Nile River
Largest River in the World (6700km long)
Has 2 main sources - the White Nile (near Lake Tanganyika in Tanzania, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia and Burundi) and the Blue Nile (in the Ethiopian highlands).
These 2 sources have a confluence at Khartoum (Sudan’s capital). Water flows northward through Egypt to its mouth in the Mediterranean Sea.
Why is the Nile heavily contested?
Despite being the largest river in the world, its volume its discharge is relatively modest at 2830m³/s (compared to the Amazon’s 209,000m³/s) with an 84 billion cubic metres, 84 cubic kilometres, volume (compared to the estimated 6,600 to 7,600 cubic kilometres of the Amazon)
This relatively low discharge is competed for by 11 countries. The Nile basin is home to over 300 million people. this is expected to increase to 600 million by 2030.
The White Nile only provides 30% of water flowing through Aswan Egypt. The Blue Nile , although a smaller catchment, receives heavy rainfall from the Monsoon season.
High evaporation rates - As high as 50% in the Sudd
Seasonal variations, and annual fluctuations caused by ENSO and climate change are likely to make the river unpredictable in the future.
Egypt relies of the Nile for 95% of its water to support its population of over 110 million
What deals were made over the Nile?
1929 - First Nile Waters Agreement was made. This gave Egypt access to 84bn cubic metres, and Sudan 4 bn cubic metres. This left only 14% of the Nile’s volume to other nations. Egypt was given the right to veto any modification to the use of the Nile’s water in other nations.
1959 - Second Nile Waters Agreement. This gave 55.5bn cubic metres to Egypt and 18.5bn cubic metres to Sudan. This left virtually no water for other nations as the rest was lost to evaporation. Ethiopia refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of this agreement
Both of these agreements were made by colonial powers.
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD)
In 2011, Ethiopia announced plans to build the largest hydroelectric scheme in Africa across the Blue Nile - close to Ethiopia’s border with Sudan. it is estimated to cost $4 bn when completed and has a capacity of over 6000 megawatts.
Ethiopia believes it will help pull its people out of poverty and accelerate development. However, Egypt believes it will reduce the flow of the Nile downstream.
The initial agreement was that when the reservoir began to fill at the end of 2021, hydroelectric power would not be generated.
However, in September 2019, Egypt proposed an extension to the period of no HEP production. they argued without this, 1 million jobs and $1.8n would be lost. They also demanded an annual release of 40 billion cubic metres per year after the reservoir had finished filling
Ethiopia rejected the extension of the period of no HEP production and agreed to release no more than 35bn cubic metres per year after completion.
Egypt claims that Ethiopia is not willing to commit to mitigation safeguards and didn’t offer sufficient guarantees on water supplies.
