The scientific committee of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) concluded its two-day meeting in Khartoum on Tuesday, after reviewing the proposals of Egypt and Sudan on how the interests of both countries cannot be harmed.
They also discussed deciding a date for the next nine-party meeting on the dam, which was scheduled to be held on 18-19 June in Cairo, but was postponed due to a delay in some official procedures. No date has yet been decided for the meeting.
The committee, which is in charge of discussing options and strategies for filling the dam’s reservoir, includes a number of experts and academics from Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia.
The proposal for the creation of the scientific committee was presented during April’s meeting in Khartoum in the presence of the ministers of foreign affairs and irrigation and water resources of the three countries, as well as their respective intelligence leaders. It was further included in the outcome document of the second nine-party meeting in Addis Ababa on 15 May.
It mainly aims to address the observations of Egypt and Sudan on a proposal submitted by Ethiopia at the previous meeting in Cairo.
Ethiopia plans to start filling the reservoir this year, but no specific date has been set. Ethiopia is seeking to store 74bn cubic metres of Nile water behind the dam, which will affect Egypt’s historic water quota of 55.5bn cubic metres. It is also promoting the dam to develop the country and asserts that it benefits all countries, including the downstream countries of Egypt and Sudan.
