disadvantages of the grand ethiopian renaissance dam

(2017). Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, Ethiopia - Webuild Project The current filling which is ongoing since early July 2021 has presented no issues as well. Officials in Addis Ababa argue that the GERD will have no major impact on water flow into the Nile, instead arguing that the hydropower dam will provide benefits to countries in the region, including as a source of affordable electric power and as a major mechanism for the management of the Nile, including the mitigation of droughts and water salinity. "Today as you see behind me . 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. 67K views 6 months ago ETIOPIA The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, on the Blue Nile, is located around 14 km upstream of the Ethiopian-Sudan Border, at around 700 km from the Capital. What are the disadvantages of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam You can revoke your consent to the site operator at any time by unsubscribing from the newsletter. The Government of Egypt, a country which relies heavily on the waters of the Nile, has demanded that Ethiopia cease construction on the dam as a preconditions to negotiations, sought regional support for its position, and some political leaders have discussed methods to sabotage it. What Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia must overcome to all benefit from the Grand Renaissance Dam. Test. In June 2020, tensions escalated when Ethiopia declared its intent to fill the dam in July without an agreement, which again led to Egypt and Sudan requesting UNSC intervention on the matter (Kandeel, 2020). Ethiopia - Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) - Hydropower Subsequent impact studies were performed by the European Investment Bank and the African Development Bank, and in the light of the results, these banks cancelled their funding for Gibe III. Ethiopia: The Untold Story of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam I agree with the delivery of the newsletter. This is an intergovernmental partnership to provide a forum for consultation and coordination for the sustainable management and development of shared water. Since its inception, there have been two, highly contentious, products. These are two of the largest dams in Africa. The Untold Story of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam If Egyptian authorities refuse to abandon these anachronistic treatieswhich have created untenable water-use rights that benefit only itself and Sudanall parties will remain at an impasse. Sign up for news on environment, conflict and cooperation. With regard to the mega-dams, the Gilgel Gibe III Dam and the GERD speak volumes on the substance of Zenawis political ideology. Could the Nile dispute be an opportunity to boost freshwater technology? Hence, the customary law argument might be too ambitious. A more recent trilateral meeting mediated by the African Union in mid-July, however, appeared to diffuse the situation with all three countries reaching a major common understanding towards achieving an agreement (Al Jazeera, 2020). What could have been strictly technical negotiations have turned into a political deadlock. The decisions that this group renders must be binding on all riparian states. It concludes that Ethiopias legal position is far stronger and that a negotiated agreement in its favour is the most likely outcome of the dispute. 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. The late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who laid the foundation stone in 2011, said the dam would be built without begging for money . The GERD and the Revival of the Egyptian-Sudanese Dispute over the Nile Waters. The Grand Renaissance Dam and prospects for cooperation on the Eastern Nile. Nile negotiations break down as Egypt, Sudan accuse Ethiopia of rejecting legally binding agreement. - Ethiopia's massive. Ethiopia announced in April 2011 that it intends to build four large dams on the Nile, including one of the largest in the world, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (formerly known as Project X or the Grand Millennium Dam).This huge dam will flood 1,680 square kilometers of forest in northwest Ethiopia, near the Sudan border, and create a reservoir that is nearly twice as large as Lake Tana . On March 4, 1982, Bertha Wilson became the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada. We shall begin with the former. This was an attempt at a wholesale replacement for the Nile Waters Treaties. We do know that Ethiopia is already seeing longer droughts and worse floods. It provides clear benefits to all three riparian, such as flood control, reduced flood damages and sediment control. 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. In general, the Ethiopian development philosophy rests on two pillars: mega-dams and mega-agricultural projects. The IPoE report recommended two studies to assess the environmental and socio-economic impacts of GERD and was interpreted by both the Egyptian and the Ethiopian government as a vindication of their respective positions. (2012). It and several other large dams in Ethiopia could turn the country into Africa's hydropower hub. Zegabi East Africa News (2015). Learn the history of Toronto from the city's official website. Flashcards. 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. His successor, Mohamed Morsi, said that Egypt was prepared to defend each drop of Nile water with blood. An armed conflict has not emerged, but there are suggestions that Egyptian intelligence services undermined Ethiopia internally by assisting the Oromo Liberation Front in its campaign of civil unrest in Ethiopia in 2016. The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. 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 . It's very unpredictable and it can be very dangerous," says Pottinger. Crucially, however, despite being signed by Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan, the legal status of the DoP was left (deliberately) vague. Ethiopias strategy for dam construction goes far beyond developmental goals. At this point, though, the GERD is nearly completed, and so Egypt has shifted its position to trying to secure a political agreement over the timetable for filling the GERDs reservoir and how the GERD will be managed, particularly during droughts. (eds.). But the project has caused concern. Similarly, both the final agreement between the riparian states for the allocation of the water and resources of the Nile should include a dispute resolution mechanism. A Tripartite National Committee (TNC), consisting of national experts from Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan, was constituted in order to determine principles of cooperation. Nevertheless, it is important to take stock of the human costs, social problems, and lasting environmental impacts of this strategy which have already drawn considerable criticism and concern. Egyptian players abroad: Mostafa Mohamed's Nantes defeated at PSG, Trezeguet.. Italy Serie A results & fixtures (25th matchday), Egypts Prosecution investigates Hoggpool, Six European nations express concern over growing violence in Palestinian territories, Egyptian Premier League fixtures (21st matchday), US official says Biden expected to tighten rules on US investment in China. (2017). Already, the United States has threatened to withhold development aid to Ethiopia if the conflict is not resolved and an agreement reached. The Chinese-financed Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), despite a recent breakdown in talks on Africa's largest development project, risks powering up a range of downstream tensions and rivalries. In turn, Egypt water policy and management should be changes or modified to overcome the great challenges. March 14, 2020, 6:57 AM. On March 4, 1909, the Copyright Act of 1909 became law, making infringement of a copyright a federal crime for the first time. Egypt says. Cairo Controversy prevailed in the Egyptian public opinion, after Deltares, a Dutch advisory institute, announced on Sept. 15 its withdrawal from a study to assess the risks that the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which is under construction on the Blue Nile, can cause to Egypt and Sudan. IDS (2013). The withdrawal from the project by Deltares has been met by a wave of objections in Egypt for fear . The change of government in Egypt led to a more conciliatory approach (Von Lossow & Roll, 2015). Such a meaningful resource-sharing agreement should not only resolve the conflict over water-use rights among the riparian states, but it should help define concepts such as equitable and reasonable use and significant harm, which have been used by the downstream states in their criticisms of the GERD. Kandeel, A. Both countries are concerned that without a clear and binding agreement with Ethiopia, the latter will have full control of the passage of water from the GERD during droughts, which would be devastating to the lives of millions in Egypt and Sudan. Ultimately, however, Egypt did not sign the CFA (nor did Sudan) hence it does not resolve the dispute. But this did not rule out eruptions of tension, not just between local communities and the central government, but also between Ethiopia and its neighbours. The Ethiopian government is spending $4.7 billion to construct the 1,780-meter dam across the Blue Nile. Neither the Egyptian nor the Ethiopian governments received positive domestic feedback on their agreement. The dispute escalated in 2011 when Ethiopia began construction of a major new dam, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), in the absence of any agreement with downstream Egypt. However, an agreement was still far from reach. Despite the intense disagreements, though, Ethiopia continues to move forward with the dam, arguing that the hydroelectric project will significantly improve livelihoods in the region more broadly. Attempts to resolve the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam dispute over the past decade have reached a deadlock. The Blue Nile is Ethiopias largest river, with high potential for hydropower and irrigation. In order to sustain this benefit in the long run, Ethiopias neighbouring countries will have to continue to purchase hydroelectric energy, and rainfall will have to fall at the same rate on the Ethiopian Plateau. Construction on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam began in 2011 and it is currently nearing completion. However, as noted above, the trouble with relying on the DoP is that its legal status is not clearly defined. The Nile riparians must understand that the river is a common resource whose effective management must be approached from a basin-wide perspective. The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and the Ethiopian Challenge of The treaties also purported to give Egypt veto power over upstream projects. More alarmingly, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak allegedly even considered bombing the Dam. Ethiopia, however, prefers to have the flexibility to make decisions on how to deal with droughts. In fact, the Dam arguably smooths out the flow and mitigates the risk of both drought and floods. A regional framework for the management of the Nile already existsthe Nile Basin Initiative mentioned abovewhich is a partnership among the Nile riparian states that was launched in 1999. Learn. A significant segment of local opinion is also aware of the well-known problems that come with mega-dams wherever they are built, among them population displacements and resettlement, reductions in the quality of life, the spread of waterborne diseases, salinisation and the loss of productive and profitable lands, more intense competition over the remaining available land, and losses of cultural and historic heritage. The Politics Of The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam - Analysis Ethiopia says second filling of Renaissance Dam complete This exception was implemented to mitigate the risk of decolonisation leading to boundary wars. Ethiopian Yearbook of International Law 2017. The United States is Committed to Egypt's Water Security and Advancing In contrast, other watercourse states on the Nile have lent their support to the Dam. At 6,000 MW, the dam will be the largest hydroelectric power plant in Africa when completed at 2017(IPoE, 2013). the study highlights the importance of weighing up the advantages and disadvantages of counter-hegemonic tactics in general, and of large dam projects in particular, and . Note that, under Article 62(2) VCLT, territorial treaties are excepted from the change in circumstances rule. (DOC) Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam - Academia.edu A Grand New Dam on the Nile: The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam Cooperation among the three countries has never been more important as demand for water rises, she added, due to factors such as population growth, urbanization and industrialization. Sudans agricultural and hydropower interests align with those of Ethiopia while it has a strong interest in not alienating its 'big brother' and northern neighbour, Egypt, with whom it shares a long and partly contested border (Whittington et al., 2014). It merely provides at Article III that Ethiopia undertakes not to construct any work across the Blue Nile, Lake Tsana, or the Sobat which would arrest the flow of their waters into the Nile. In other words, Ethiopia only agreed that it would not completely stop the flow of tributaries into the Nile. Water Politics and the Gulf States: The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam Another difficulty for Egypt is that making this argument (i.e. When it is completed, with its concrete volume of 10.2 million m3, GERD will feature the largest dam in Africa. It imports about half its food products and recycles about 25 bcm of water annually. for seepage and evaporation, but afforded no water to Ethiopia or other upstream riparian statesthe sources of most of the water that flows into the Nile. To African commentators in recent decades, massive investments in mega-energy and irrigation projects were emblematic of the African economic emergence, and Ethiopia at that time vaunted itself as one of the fastest-growing economies in the region. PDF Negative Impact of Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and Population on - AJER The GERD has become a new reality challenging the traditional dynamics in the Nile River Basin. The Eastern Nile Basin is of critical geopolitical importance to the Niles overall hydro-political regime. Still, Egypt may be playing with fire if it were to press the legal significance of the DoP. The multi-services provided by the hydropower development and its technical advantages could be driving forces for local, regional and national development, and a catalyst for sustainable development. Ethiopia, Egypt, Sudan reach 'major common understanding' on dam. After all, the VCLT allows states to withdraw from or terminate a treaty owing to a fundamental change of circumstances which has occurred and which was not foreseen by the parties (Article 62(1)). Although the immediate issue at stakesecuring a technical agreement on the filling of the GERDs reservoiris among Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan, the broader and longer-term goal should be for all 11 statesincluding Tanzania, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Eritrea, and South Sudanto agree on a legal regime for the management of this important watercourse. The strategy and its surrounding narrative have attracted large influxes of foreign investment in the Ethiopian agrarian sector, with multi-million dollar leases of agricultural land to foreigners generally linked to irrigation projects planned in tandem with the construction of the dam. This crisis has raised great concerns among large sectors of the Egyptian society, especially in light of recalling such statements as "water war," "water militarization," "military management of the GERD crisis," "water terrorism," and "Ethiopian hydro-hegemony over the Nile Basin" [ 1, 2 ]. 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. River Nile dam: Why Ethiopia can't stop it being filled Given the advancement of the dam construction - the GERD being, as of March 2015, 40% complete, according to Ethiopia - Egypt had good reason to reconsider its position (RANE, 2015). It simultaneously expects that this role will change Ethiopias international status from a country perceived as poor and dependent on foreign aid to a regional power able to provide vital resources to its surrounding region. These conflicts could take the form of international armed conflicts (between states), non-international armed conflicts between a group and a state, or conflicts between non-state groups. What is your opinion on Ethiopia's chances of completing the "Great "The Israeli installation of the missile system around the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam was completed after the Israeli work began in May 2019, considering that it is the first Israeli air defense system abroad that can launch (two types of missiles), the first with a range of 5 km, and the second with a range of 50 kilometer". Ethiopia has two major plans for these rivers, which both flow into Somalia, in the form of the Wabe Shebelle and the Genale Dawa power plants. Article 5 requires that watercourse states utilise an international watercourse in an equitable and reasonable manner and creates the duty to cooperate in the protection and development of the watercourse. 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.