How will the second filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam harm Egyptians?

CAIRO - 11 April 2020: Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, Mohamed Abdel-Ati, said that the Ethiopian side’s proposal to exchange information regarding the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) before the second filling does not necessarily reflect good intentions. He explained that if there are good intentions, an agreement must be concluded and data exchanged based on this agreement.

He added, during an interview with "Al-Hekaya" program presented by Amr Adeeb on Saturday, that Egypt does not have any problem with the data of the Renaissance Dam, indicating the state's readiness to take proper actions in the event of the second filling of the dam.

He pointed out that multiple scenarios have been prepared to absorb the shock of the second filling of the dam, including in the case of filling in times of drought that would cause great damage, or in the case of medium or high floods, which would cause less damage, stressing the Egyptian state will not wait until damage occurs.

The minister explained that all the countries involved in the Renaissance Dam crisis will be negatively affected by any kind of unilateral action from any party, adding that agreements must be concluded to deal with drought if the dams are empty.

Furthermore, Minister Abdel-Ati stated that the ministry had been working for 5 years to prepare the country to deal with the water shortage crisis that Egypt will witness in the event of the second filling of the dam, referring to the establishment of water harvesting dams; and is working to protect these dams, ration crops and rationalize water consumption.

He continued, "We are trying to absorb the shock as much as possible, so its impact would not be terrible on the Egyptians." He further stressed the state's steadfastness in withstanding shocks, just like what happened in the first filling of the dam.

On April 10, Egypt rejected an Ethiopian invitation for Egypt and Sudan to nominate operators for data exchange before the second filling of the grand dam, which Ethiopia intends to implement in July, despite the absence of consensus among the three countries.

Rounds of negotiations among the three countries on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) have reached a deadlock several times with Egypt blaming the failure on Ethiopia’s intransigence.

Egypt and Sudan insist that a legally binding agreement on the filling and operation of the dam should be reached before Ethiopia implements the second phase of dam filling. Ethiopia, on the other hand, reiterated that it would complete filling the dam in July whether an agreement is concluded or not.