Egypt is angry Ethiopia GERD | as the News of Egypt says it has begun to fill again

Egypt says the unilateral movement violates international laws and regulations, raising tensions over a huge dam built on the main Nile tributary.

Egypt said it had received an official note from Ethiopia that it had begun the next phase of filling the controversial giant dam on the main tributary of the Nile, increasing tensions on the issue a few days before the UN Security Council meeting.

In a statement late Monday, Egypt’s irrigation ministry said it “absolutely rejects this unilateral measure” and said the move was a “violation of international laws and regulations governing projects built in shared river basins.”

The Ethiopian Renaissance Great Dam (GERD), which will be the largest hydroelectric project in Africa when completed, is the source of an almost decade-long diplomatic stay between Ethiopia and the nations on the Egypt and Sudan River.

Addis Ababa has said the project is key to development, but the Cairo and Khartoum governments fear it could limit public access to water.

The volume of water that accumulates will depend on the amount of seasonal rainfall in Ethiopia, Egyptian Ministry of Irrigation spokesman Mohamed Ghanim told a local TV channel.

“Now we don’t see any impact on the Nile. We have a month or a month and a half ahead of us, ”he said.

Both Egypt and Sudan have urged the signing of a binding agreement to fill and exploit the Ethiopian dams, and in recent weeks have called on the UN Security Council to take up the matter.

Thursday’s meeting was requested by Tunisia on behalf of Egypt and Sudan, a diplomatic source told AFP news agency. But the French UN ambassador last week said the council itself could do little but bring the parties together.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said in a statement to the UN that the negotiations were at an impasse, and accused Ethiopia of adopting a “policy of intransigence that undermines collective efforts to reach an agreement”.

The Ethiopian government had previously announced that it would go into the second phase of compliance in July, with or without an agreement.

The Nile – about 6,000 kilometers (3,700 miles) long, is one of the longest rivers in the world – a vital source of water and electricity in dozens of East African countries.

Egypt, which is dependent on the Nile for irrigation and drinking water in almost all areas, sees the dam as an existential threat.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi warned Ethiopia earlier this year that his government would not allow any behavior that would reduce the water part of Egypt from the Nile.

He said “all possibilities are open” if Egypt’s quota is to be “touched” and called on Addis Ababa to work with Cairo and Khartoum to avoid conflicts.

Sudan hopes the project will regulate the annual floods, but fears its dams will be damaged without an agreement on the Ethiopian operation.

The 145-meter (475-foot) mega-dam, which began construction in 2011, has a capacity of 74 billion cubic meters.

Compliance began last year when Ethiopia announced in July 2020 that it had reached a target of 4.9 billion cubic meters, the age of testing the first two turbines of the dam, an important milestone on the way to energy production.

The goal is to add an additional 13.5 trillion cubic meters this year.

Egypt and Sudan wanted to reach a bilateral agreement on dam operations before starting any filling.

Ethiopia says it is a natural part of construction and therefore impossible to delay.

Last year, Sudan said the process caused water shortages, including a claim discussed in Khartoum, Ethiopia.

Yasser Abbas, Sudan’s water minister, warned in April that as the second phase of filling Ethiopia progressed, his country would “put up dams against the Italian company that is building the dam and the Ethiopian government.”

He said the lawsuits will highlight that “environmental and social impact and emergency risks” have not been properly considered.