CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt and Sudan on Saturday rejected an Ethiopian proposal to share data on the operations of its giant hydropower dam on the Blue Nile, after negotiations between the three Kinshasa countries ended this week without progress.
Ethiopia sets its hopes for economic development and power generation on the great Ethiopian Renaissance dam, which Egypt fears will jeopardize its supply from the Nile. Sudan is also concerned about the impact on its own water flows.
“Ethiopia calls on Sudan and Egypt to nominate dam operators for data exchange before GERD is filled in future rainy seasons,” the Ethiopian foreign ministry wrote on Saturday.
But Cairo and Khartoum have said they are seeking a binding legal agreement on the dam’s operations, which Addis Ababa says is crucial to its economic development.
“Sudan believes that the exchange of information is a necessary procedure, but that the Ethiopian offer to do so as indicated in their letter implies suspicious selectivity in dealing with what has been agreed,” the Sudanese Ministry of Irrigation said on Saturday.
After the meeting in Kinshasa, Ethiopia stressed that the filling of the dam tank in the second year will take place as scheduled.
Sudan will have 600 million cubic meters (785 million cubic meters) of water at its Jebel Awliya reservoir to “ensure the continued operation of pumping stations on the White Nile and Nile River to meet agricultural and drinking water needs.” In preparation for Ethiopia’s second addition, Sudanese state news agency SUNA reported on Saturday.
The Egyptian irrigation minister said on Saturday on a local television show that while reserves in the Aswan High Dam could help avoid the effects of a second flood, his main concern was managing the drought.
Sudan and Egypt have proposed the inclusion of the European Union, the United States and the United Nations as mediators, in addition to the ongoing facilitation of discussions by the African Union. Both countries said Ethiopia rejected the proposal during a meeting in Kinshasa.
Reporting by Nadine Awadalla; edited by Jonathan Oatis