Sudan announced, early on Saturday, that the water supply from the Blue Nile to the Roseire Dam reservoir has declined by up to 50%.
The country warned that the delay in resuming negotiations on Ethiopia’s controversial dam will affect the Roseires Dam.
Meanwhile, Ethiopia’s Supreme National Committee for Disaster Management announced that about half a million people are at risk of flooding in various parts of the country.
The expected “dangerous floods” will include the Amhara region, where Lake Tana, the source of the Blue Nile, is located.
On Friday, Sudan’s Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Yasser Abbas said that the Ethiopian decision to start filling the reservoir of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) for the second year in a row constitutes a threat to Sudan.
In a letter to his Ethiopian counterpart, Seleshi Bekele, Abbas noted that Ethiopia had decided to fill the dam for the second year in the first week of May, when it decided to continue the construction of the GERD’s middle passage.
“It is clear that when the water flow exceeds the capacity of the two lower gates, it will be stored until the dam is full, and water eventually crosses over it,” Abbas said.
For his part, Egypt’s Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Mohamed Abdel Atty said, on Friday, that his country is keen to complete the GERD talks. This is with the aim of reaching a fair and legally binding agreement that meets the development aspirations of all involved parties.
