Egypt minister of irrigation: ‘Ethiopia’s livestock consumes more water than share of Egypt and Sudan’

Egyptian Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Mohamed Abdel Aty asserted that the allegations that Egypt receives the lion’s share of the Nile water are inaccurate: “Because we get a minimum quantity.”

Abdel Aty indicated to Al-Masry Al-Youm that Ethiopia’s animal wealth, estimated at 100 million livestock, consumes more water than the share of Egypt and Sudan, noting that Addis Ababa has a lot of water resources that exceed what Egypt obtains from the Nile water.

In his speech at a conference on Egyptian agricultural challenges during the coronavirus era on Wednesday, he added: “If we calculate the green areas in Ethiopia, we would realise the reality of the situation. In fact, the desert covers 94 per cent of Egyptian lands, while green areas extend on more than 94 per cent of Ethiopia, which means that we live on a limited resource of water amid a huge fallacy that must be known to the internal and external public opinion that Egypt suffers from water shortage and scarcity despite the continuous increase in its water needs.”

Abdel Aty explained that the blue water available in Lake Victoria exceeds 3,000 cubic metres, in addition to quantities of green water in forests and pastures, as well as rainwater and underground water.

He asserted that in Ethiopia, there are 55 billion cubic metres of water in Lake Tana, in addition to 15 billion cubic metres in the Tana Palace, the Vinca and Sharshar dams, as well as other dams, with a total quantity of 70 billion cubic metres.

READ: Ethiopia starts filling Grand Renaissance dam, minister says 

The Egyptian minister pointed out that in the rest of the Nile Basin countries, many dams have been built during past decades, including the Owen and Bagagli reservoir, the Roseires Dam and the Sennar Dam, as well as the Atbara and Setit Dam Complex, in addition to Khushm Al-Qurba and Jabal Awliya. He wondered how Egypt is said to take the lion’s share at a time when all the aforementioned countries have a reservoir of rain and groundwater water.

Abdel Aty expressed that Egyptians live on only seven per cent of Egypt’s land, while all the Nile Basin countries live on all their countries’ lands, grow crops and own a 94 per cent reservoir of green water in their forests and pastures.

The Egyptian minister stated: “I hope that the local and international public opinion will know all these facts and that what the Ethiopian side promotes about Egypt’s acquisition of the Nile water is incorrect, and it does not reflect the reality in Egypt.”

He confirmed that: “The Nile is a basic source of life for Egypt, and that what the Ethiopians keep repeating is not compatible with reality at all. We must all address this misconception and let no one propagandise these fallacies, without knowing the truth, and we, as Egyptians and an international community, must confront the misleading allegations so as not to give anyone the opportunity to bid on the truth.”