Hassan Razak-Addis Ababa
Ethiopian Minister of Irrigation and Water Selcey Bagli said the approval of a proposal by the Egyptian government on the issue of the Renaissance Dam would turn the dam into a mere reservoir of the High Dam.
Selchi's statement represents the first official Ethiopian response to the announcement of the Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation on the stalled negotiations between them and Ethiopia on the file of the Renaissance Dam, because of the latter's rejection of the Egyptian proposal.
The Egyptian proposal included extending the filling period of the Renaissance Dam reservoir by more than two years in order to maintain the water level in the High Dam at 165 meters, with the flow of at least 40 billion cubic meters of dam water annually after the first phase of filling.
The Ethiopian Minister of Irrigation and Water said in a press conference held today in Addis Ababa, that this proposal will make the operation and operation of the Renaissance Dam depends on maintaining the water level in the High Dam, which is technically impractical, as it can not control how Egypt manages the High Dam, As well as the rate of evaporation of water, and therefore will be limited to the Renaissance Dam only to compensate the water deficit of Egypt, he said.
The Ethiopian minister pointed out that what he described as the transformation of the Renaissance Dam into a mere reservoir of the High Dam will not achieve the expected economic return from the Renaissance Dam. The proposal does not fit, he said, with the requirements of future development in Ethiopia as well as Sudan, and therefore the proposal was rejected accordingly.
On September 15-16, Cairo held a meeting of water ministers and experts from Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan, the first after a seven-month suspension. The last meeting between the three countries took place in February at the level of presidents on the sidelines of the African Summit in Addis Ababa.