Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan Resume Negotiations Over Disputed GERD Dam

Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan have resumed their years-long negotiations Sunday over the controversial dam Ethiopia is building on the Nile River’s main tributary.

The Egyptian Irrigation Ministry announced the new round of talks in Cairo. Irrigation Minister Hani Sewilam said Egypt wants a legally binding agreement on how the giant dam is operated and filled.

The resumption of talks came after President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Ethiopia Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said last month that they aim to reach an agreement within four months on the operation of the $4.6 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile.

The Blue Nile meets the White Nile in Sudan’s capital of Khartoum, before winding northward through Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea.

Tensions have heightened between Cairo and Addis Ababa after the Ethiopian government began filling the dam’s reservoir before reaching an agreement.

Egypt fears a devastating impact if the dam is operated without taking its needs into account, calling it an existential threat as it relies almost entirely on the Nile to supply water for agriculture and its more than 100 million people.

Key questions remain about how much water Ethiopia will release downstream if a multi-year drought occurs and how the three countries will resolve any future disputes. Ethiopia has rejected binding arbitration at the final stage of the project.

Sudan wants Ethiopia to coordinate and share data on the dam’s operation to avoid flooding and protect its own power-generating dams on the Blue Nile, the main tributary of the Nile. The dam is located just 10 kilometers from the Sudanese border.