1st Ethiopian Dam filling caused Sudanese water plants to go out of service: official

CAIRO – 12 July 2021: Spokesperson of the Sudanese Negotiation Team Over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) Ambassador Omar El Farouq highlighted in a TV interview that the first filling of the dam in 2020 caused Khartoum to remain without water supply for several days as plants got out of service, and that Ethiopia is putting his country at the same risk this year again through the second filling.

The problem does not lie in the filling itself but in the lack of a legal binding agreement, which would ensure Sudan is getting from Ethiopia detailed information and daily data on the size and levels of water flowing. The official underscored the salience of such information on the safety of Sudanese dams saying that the information provided by Ethiopia are very brief and not sufficient.

Farouq explained that the capacity of GERD is 74 billion cubic meters while that of Sudan's Roseires is just seven billion cubic meters. Yet, the latter produces 80 percent of electricity in Sudan, and is essential for 20 million Sudanese living on agriculture. Hence, the change of water levels will have a very negative impact on the dam, if not coordinated.

The official pointed out that during the negotiations an agreement was reached on 90 percent of the technical aspects but the problem is that Ethiopia is not willing to sign a legal binding agreement.