Meeting of Egyptian, Sudanese, and Ethiopian foreign ministers kicked off on Tuesday in the US to finalise an agreement on the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).
It will also discuss the final technical, and legal drafts prepared by technical, and legal experts within the outcomes of the last meeting in Khartoum mid-January and the previous four rounds, as well.
The talks will cover filling, retained volumes of water in the dam, reservoir operation, drought, and its management, data exchange, and coordination mechanisms.
The dam’s negotiations enters its ninth year among Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia.
In November, Washington hosted negotiations, mediated by the World Bank, and the US Treasury, between the three Nile Basin countries.
The US Secretary of the Treasury and the President of the World Bank will attend the meeting, as observers.
During their previous meeting in Washington two weeks ago, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt agreed on the filling of the dam to be executed in successive stages, and for the fillings to take place during the rainy season, July and August, and sometimes in September based on existing conditions.
Ethiopia intends to start filling the dam at the end of this year, and the filling process will take 4-7 years to complete.
