Egypt's PM underscores Nile water supply as national security

Egyptian Prime Minister Hesham Qandil on Monday underscored the Nile River's water supply as national security following Ethiopia's recent diversion of an upstream tributary in preparation for building a dam. Addressing the Shura Council about his strategy to deal with the issue Qandil said "about 98 percent of Egypt's use of water depends on the Nile River, which means that it is a matter of life or death." In late May, Ethiopia started diversion of the course of the Blue Nile, one of the Nile River's two tributaries, as a preparatory step for building its Renaissance Dam. The move raised concerns in Egypt over its share of Nile water as one of the two downstream Nile Basin countries. Qandil noted that the studies submitted by the Ethiopian side on the dam were not sufficient enough for such a huge project. "Lack of the Ethiopian studies on the dam deepens the concerns of Egypt about its share of Nile water," said Qandil. "Egypt will send its foreign minister to Ethiopia to discuss the dam issue." He warned that the Ethiopian dam would reduce Egypt's share of Nile water as well as the power generation of the Aswan High Dam. Egypt's annual share of Nile water is 55.5 billion cubic meters. The experts say Egypt's share may drop by 10 billion cubic meters after the establishment of Ethiopia's dam. They also expect the power generation of Aswan High Dam to decline by 18 percent. The Ethiopian move to divert the Nile course is just a technical measure that would not affect the Egyptian share of water at present, they said. Qandil, however, added that such a step is deemed as "a substantial challenge" for Egypt. Moreover, he praised the Sudanese people and government for its keenness to cooperate with Egypt in researches and studies on the effects of the planned dam on the two Nile Basin downstream countries.