Politics of water resources

Throughout my blog, I showed why cutting the Gordian knot of the GERD conflict is challenging. The changing climate conditions, the colonial past, the nationalistic drive in Ethiopia, and inappropriate negotiation techniques all induce hostility. However, I also highlighted that the countries could overcome historical distrust and nationalistic discourse. The prerequisite is to agree on the dam's impact and negotiate a long-term Nile treaty with benefit-sharing mechanisms. However, after extensive readings, I argue participants should move on from focusing on GERD. Most importantly,  Egypt needs to accept the hegemony shift  and concentrate on reforms in water usage. The first step in sustainable water management is admitting that the main risk in Egyptian water management is not dams in downstream countries but inefficient measures to address the needs of rapid urbanisation and population increase. The nationalist rhetoric that blames Ethiopia for water issues should be repla...

My last post showed the main issues challenging conflict management between East Nile Basin countries. This time I will focus on how they can reach an agreement on water allocation that benefits every stakeholder. Aswan High Dam: cooperation between the two mega dams is a must for reaching an agreement As I mentioned last week, talks are frozen due to Ethiopia’s rejection of mitigation measures in the case of light rainfall. In addition, there are  flashpoints in coordinating GERD and Aswan dams and question marks around agricultural impacts . In transboundary agreements, there must be effective  data-sharing between riparian state s to evaluate the  quantity, quality and timing of river flow.  Therefore, Ethiopia must make concessions and allow respected consultant firms to assess the impacts of the construction and create a timetable for filling. With this information, the countries will have data on water flow that would be crucial for the technical solution to...