quote:The Battle for Water: Egyptian Rage Against Ethiopia
The water war between Egypt and Ethiopia has entered a new phase. Ethiopia says it has filled the controversial Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile, and the announcement is met with Egyptian anger.
Egypt considers the Renaissance Dam a threat to the country's vital water supply.
The water flow in the Nile is a lifeline for the desert country of Egypt's roughly 100 million inhabitants and the subject of a long-running power struggle between Ethiopia and Egypt.
Two weeks ago, new talks between the countries began, after previous negotiations broke down and were put on hold for a couple of years.
The regime in Ethiopia has been repeatedly called upon not to fill the reservoirs of the power plant dam before the countries could come to an agreement.
"With great joy" That did not prevent Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed from last night triumphantly announcing that the dam has now been filled.
"It is with great joy that I can tell you that the fourth and final phase of water replenishment has been completed," writes the Prime Minister on social media.
The reply from Cairo came immediately. Egypt's government announced that the Renaissance Dam is "illegal".
Military threats Controversy over the dam has raged for more than a decade. In 2013, an Egyptian government meeting was filmed discussing bombing the dam in Ethiopia.
The then president Mohammed Mursi's foreign affairs adviser then said that it was about "Egypt's existence". In addition to Ethiopia and Egypt, Sudan is also affected by the power plant dam, which began construction in 2011.
Common cause of conflict The issue of water availability is one of the most common causes of conflicts and crises in the region. One of the goals for Ethiopia is to provide the entire country with electricity, as well as to become Africa's largest electricity exporter.
Already today, Egypt suffers from an acute lack of water, and according to UN calculations, the country may "run out of water by 2025". The current crisis in Sudan is, among other things, about access to water.
A fisherman from the Nile delta who is afraid that the Ethiopian dam also will threaten the fishing in the Nile
