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5 Cards in this Set
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- Back
- 3rd side (hint)
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Background of the River Nile: |
The Nile is 6700 km long being the longest river in the world. International Transboundary river whose water resources are shared by 11 countries such as Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Kenya. Much of the river flows through semi arid (Sahel) and arid (Sahara) regions, which increases its importance as other water sources are scarce. The river is under increasing pressure from rapid population growth, economic development and climate change due to its domestic and agricultural uses. Both Sudan and Egypt rely on the River Nile for 95% of its water needs. |
Think of the area the Nile flows through and how this makes it important. |
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Reasons for Disputes: |
Historic water allocation agreements that favoured much of Egypt and Sudan. 1929- Nile agreement between Egypt and the UK (Then colonised Sudan) granted significant water allocations to Egypt and Sudan making for no allowance of other Nile states. 1999- The River Nile countries except for Eritrea signed the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) in an effort to enhance the cooperation over the use of Nile water resources. May 2010- The Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA) was signed by Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, which created opposition from Egypt and Sudan over fears that it would reduce their water rights and allocations. |
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Toshka Water Project |
01/10/2020 |
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The Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, 2011. |
- In April 2011, the Ethiopian Prime Minister announced the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile, which was met with an angry response from the Egyptian President, who stated that Egyptians would not accept any projects on the Nile River that threatened their livelihood. Fortunately, further discussions led to a recent agreement that is expected to resolve some of the issues between Egypt and Ethiopia. - In March 2015, Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan met and signed an agreement on the development of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. However, this agreement didn't resolve the broader, contentious issues of sharing the Nile waters among all Nile countries, as shown by Egypt not signing the CFA (The Cooperative Framework Agreement). |
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Gigel Gibe III Dam in Ethiopia |
The Gigel Gibe III Dam and hydro-electric power plant is on the Omo River in Ethiopia. This US$1.8 billion project began in 2008 and started to generate electricity in October 2015, becoming the 3rd largest hydro-electric plant in Africa. The project is controversial because of local negative environmental and social impacts. Environmental Impacts: - According to critics, the dam will be potentially devastating to the downstream indigenous population as it will prevent seasonal floods. - It is estimated that more than 200,000 people rely on the Omo River below the dam for subsistence agriculture, and they are dependent on the seasonal floods to replenish the dry soils for planting. - It is feared that the dam could reduce the level of Lake Turkana by up to 10 metres, affecting up to 300,000 people as well as the wildlife. This could increase the salinity of the water, threatening the drinking water supply, the fishing industry and the lake ecosystem. Social Impacts: - Many of the ethnic groups such as the Mursi and Nyangatom already live in chronic hunger, so the dam not only threatens their livelihoods but their also their very survival. Many tribespeople are armed to defend themselves against neighbouring tribes, and there are fears that water shortages could cause violent conflict. |
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