Sudan warns of rise in Nile waters as heavy rains strike

The Sudanese Ministry of Irrigation yesterday called on residents living on the banks of the Blue Nile to take precautions due to an expected rise in the river’s water levels as a result of heavy rains on the Ethiopian plateau, Anadolu reported.

The ministry said in a statement that “there will be a gradual increase in the Blue Nile’s water level south of the Roseires Reservoir and north of it near the capital Khartoum.”

On Saturday, Sudan announced that it had stored 1.6 billion cubic metres of water to secure levels in the Nile and the White Nile, in anticipation of the second filling of the Grand Ethiopia Renaissance Dam (GERD).

Ethiopia is building a $5 billion dam near the border with Sudan it says will provide the country with much-needed electricity and economic regeneration. Egypt believes it will restrict its access to Nile waters.

Egypt is almost entirely dependent on Nile water, receiving around 55.5 million cubic metres a year from the river, and believes that filling the dam will affect the water it needs for drinking, agriculture and electricity.

Cairo wants Ethiopia to guarantee Egypt will receive 40 billion cubic metres or more of water from the Nile. Ethiopian Irrigation Minister Seleshi Bekele said Egypt has abandoned this demand, but Egypt insists it hasn’t and issued a statement to this effect.

There is also an unresolved issue over how fast the dam will be filled, with Egypt fearing if it is filled too quickly, it could affect the electricity generated by the Aswan High Dam.

In July, Ethiopia informed downstream countries Egypt and Sudan that it had started the second phase of filling the dam’s reservoir in an effort to take advantage of the rainy season. Egypt responded saying: “Addis Ababa is violating international laws and norms, and is treating the River Nile as its own property.”

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