The Sudanese Ministry of Irrigation announced raising the state of maximum alert, as it expects the levels of the Blue Nile to rise significantly during the current flood season, as one of the repercussions of the third filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
Abbas Sharaki, Professor of Water Resources and Irrigation at Cairo University, said that raising the state of maximum alert at this time comes within the framework of anticipating more quantities of water being discharged through GERD in light of the continued opening of the drainage gates.
He pointed out that the past quantities ranged between 50 and 60 million cubic meters per day, adding that the amount of incoming water would reach 500 million cubic meters per day early next week.
Sharaki added in statements to Masrawy news website that the Nile River is one of the powerful rivers, as last year it recorded the supply of nearly 860 million cubic meters, or nearly one billion per day.
He pointed out that the Sudanese dams empty thier quantities of water in order to be able to receive the quantities of the new flood.
The water resources expert pointed out that Egypt is currently receiving quantities of emptied water from Sudanese dams, especially the Roseires dam, which has a storage capacity of 7 billion cubic meters, in addition to other dams.
Sharaki stressed that Cairo has taken all precautions related to the High Dam, which is capable of absorbing all the quantities that will come out of Ethiopia through the Sudanese lands.
“This flood is expected to be less than last year’s flood,” he added.
Sharaki pointed out that the amount of retained water, whether in the first, second or third filling, is considered among the shares of the downstream countries.
He added that that the Ethiopian side is not ready to end this crisis, and open a new chapter of cooperation between the three countries.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry sent a letter to the President of the United Nations’ Security Council on Friday to register Egypt’s objection and complete rejection of Ethiopia’s continued filling of GERD unilaterally without reaching an agreement with Egypt and Sudan on the filling and operation of this dam.
Egyptian Foreign Ministry said that Egypt received a message from Ethiopia on July 26 stating that Ethiopia is continuing to fill the reservoir of the dam during the current flood season, a measure that Egypt rejects and considers a violation of the obligations imposed by international law on Ethiopia.
Shoukry called on the Security Council to assume its responsibilities in this regard, including by intervening to ensure the implementation of the presidential statement issued by the Council, which obligates the three countries to negotiate in order to reach an agreement on GERD at the earliest possible opportunity.
