Because Ethiopia has been so cavalier with regard to the technical aspects of its dams, portions of them have also caved in soon after they began operation. Egypt Forced to Negotiate on Nile Dam. Egypt accuses. The Political Deadlock on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam Impacts of Grand Renaissance Dam on Economic Development in Ethiopia The late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who laid the foundation stone in 2011, said the dam would be built without begging for money . Disadvantages of the grand ethiopian renaissance dam jobs The three fillings hitherto, with the most recent in August 2022, imposed no discernible harm on downstream states. These discussions highlighted benefits such as more consistent water flow, minimising the risks of flood and drought, and the potential for discounted hydroelectricity produced by the Dam. A political requirement will be to agree on rules for filling the GERD reservoir and on operating rules for the GERD, especially during periods of drought. When it is completed, with its concrete volume of 10.2 million m3, GERD will feature the largest dam in Africa. Egypts original goal was to have the project purely and simply cancelled. This exception was implemented to mitigate the risk of decolonisation leading to boundary wars. The Nile riparians must understand that the river is a common resource whose effective management must be approached from a basin-wide perspective. Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam: Egypt's enemy or a blessing in Typically, treaties contain provisions on the identification and function of the depositary, entry into force, adoption and so on (Article 24(4) Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT)). Amazingly, the normally required social and environmental impact studies were only conducted three years after construction of the dam had began. India dispatch: Supreme Court limits DNA paternity testing in divorce proceedings, prioritizing childrens privacy rights, US dispatch: Texas case could limit access to abortion medication, Copyright infringement made federal crime. For nearly a century, as a legacy of colonialism, Egypt enjoyed what Tekuya referred to as a hydro-hegemony over the Nile; despite Ethiopia contributing 86% to its waters. These two factors could become serious problems. Nevertheless, Egypt must not use sympathy for its water vulnerability as a weapon to frustrate the efforts of the other riparians to secure an agreement that is balanced, fair, and equitable. The Eastern Nile Basin is of critical geopolitical importance to the Niles overall hydro-political regime. Ethiopia, one of the poorest countries in Africa, has the second largest population in the continent. 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. 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. A Tripartite National Committee (TNC), consisting of national experts from Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan, was constituted in order to determine principles of cooperation. As early as 1957, Ethiopian officials said that the Somalian economy could not survive on its own given how heavily dependent it was on Ethiopia. Despite the controversy and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam's effect on Egypt and Sudan, it appears that the Ethiopian government will continue to move forward with filling the dam. The change of government in Egypt led to a more conciliatory approach (Von Lossow & Roll, 2015). The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is the new - The Conversation 1800m long and 170m high. The CFA was a political success for the eight upstream states such as Ethiopia as it favoured those states and isolated the downstream states of Egypt and Sudan and made them appear recalcitrant. (2014). Ethiopia says second filling of Renaissance Dam complete Construction on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam began in 2011 and it is currently nearing completion. On the surface, the 558 ft tall dam Africa's biggest hydropower project belies Ethiopia's financial muscle. Match. 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). It imports about half its food products and recycles about 25 bcm of water annually. An optimistic trend among todays African commentators focuses primarily on economic growth rates and pays little attention to human tolls, questions of transparency and accountability, and the sustainability of growth. It can be demand-driven, typically caused by population growth, and supply-driven, typically caused by decreasing amounts of fresh water often resulting from climate change or a result of societal factors such as poverty. Ethiopia has never 'consumed' significant shares of the Nile's water so far, as its previous political and economic fragility in combination with a lack of external financial support, due to persistent Egyptian opposition to projects upstream, prevented it from implementing large-scale projects. The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam: Africa's Water Tower The dispute resolution committee could be made up of the Nile Council of Ministers (Nile-COM), which includes the ministers in charge of water affairs in all member states of the Nile River Basin. Lastly, over-year storage facilities upstream in Ethiopia will allow Sudan to increase its water use. Fast Track Approach to Design and Construction at Grand Ethiopian The decisions that this group renders must be binding on all riparian states. This is good news for Egypt and Sudan as hydropower means little actual water withdrawal. Salman, S.M.A. The Chinese then took over the funding amidst heightened international concern regarding the social, technical, and environmental repercussions of the Ethiopian dams. Second, the upstream riparian states must recognize and accept Egypts near total dependence on the waters of the Nile River. It provides clear benefits to all three riparian, such as flood control, reduced flood damages and sediment control. The dam will flood 1,680 square kilometers of forest in northwest Ethiopia (an area about four times the size of Cairo), displace approximately 20,000 people in Ethiopia, and create a reservoir that will hold around 70 billion cubic . What Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia must overcome to all benefit from the Grand Renaissance Dam. In the relatively unlikely scenario that the above points failed, Ethiopia could argue that there has been such a change of circumstances since the Nile Waters Treaties were concluded that they ought to be terminated. You must have JavaScript enabled to use this form. It has also expressed concerns about the potential impact the initial filling of the dam will have on areas downstream. (DOC) Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam - Academia.edu Ethiopia Needs the United States to Act as an Honest Broker in the Nile . Location l Formerly called as project x then known as the Millennium Dam then it renamed to Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. Consequently, under the principle of pacta tertiis nec nocent nec prosunt, it could demonstrate that those treaties cannot bind it as it was a third party and did not give its consent. (eds.). 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. The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam Gets Set to Open - Hiiraan Online Since plans for Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) were first announced in 2011, Cairo has viewed the project as a serious threat to the country's water supply. The Ethiopian government is spending $4.7 billion to construct the 1,780-meter dam across the Blue Nile. These countries should return to the NBIs Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA), which was concluded in 2010, try to resolve the disagreements that caused Egypt and Sudan to decline to sign the CFA, and use it as a model for a future binding legal regime. However, this threatens the basin's long-term sustainability (as water use expands beyond what is environmentally feasible) and suboptimal in terms of capital allocation (as higher water use upstream may make downstream projects uneconomical (Swain, 2011). With regard to the mega-dams, the Gilgel Gibe III Dam and the GERD speak volumes on the substance of Zenawis political ideology. Since 2015, technical reports on the potential impacts of the dam have failed to reach a consensus within the TNC (Maguid, 2017). Downstream countries Egypt and Sudan have expressed concerns over the impacts of the dam on their water supply. This was an attempt at a wholesale replacement for the Nile Waters Treaties. In fact, about 85 % of the overall Nile flow originates on Ethiopian territory (Swain, 2011). The largest permanent desert lake in the world, Turkana has three national parks that are now listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Following the fall of Mengistu Haile-Mariams regime in Ethiopia in 1991, Ethiopia experienced a remarkable rise in the construction of dams and hydroelectric power stations. In 1964, the US Land Reclamation Bureau conducted a study for the Ethiopian government, identifying 33 hydraulic projects in the Blue Nile Basin. 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. The current global energy crisis may help in this regard in the sense that Egyptians may find the allure of discounted hydroelectric energy stronger than ever before. In short, the Nile Waters Treaties do little to constrain Ethiopias ability to construct the Dam. Finally, Ethiopia could make a strong case that the operation of the Dam is in alignment with the core principles of international water law, namely equitable utilisation and no significant harm. These are found in Articles 5 and 7 of the Water Courses Convention respectively and, despite the scepticism outlined above, arguably form part of customary international law. Search for jobs related to Disadvantages of the grand ethiopian renaissance dam or hire on the world's largest freelancing marketplace with 22m+ jobs. Link, P.M. et al.