Committee On Impact Of Ethiopia’s Renaissance Dam To Meet Morsi

Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsi will meet Sunday to discuss their final report the tripartite committee that has been studying the impact of Ethiopia’s proposed Renaissance Dam.

The joint committee is made of Egyptian, Sudanese and Ethiopian representatives who have been studying since May 2012 the impact of the Renaissance Dam project.

Both Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohamed Kamel Amr and Minister of Irrigation Mohamed Bahaa El-Din will be present at the meeting

Ethiopia announced Tuesday it will begin diverting the course of the Blue Nile, one of the Nile River’s two major tributaries, as part of its project to build the new dam.

The majority of Nile water that reaches Egypt and Sudan originates in the Blue Nile.

The Renaissance Dam has been a source of concern for the Egyptian government with fears expressed that the project, if completed, could negatively impact the volume of Nile water that will reach Egypt.

Egypt will need an additional 21 billion cubic metres of water per year by 2050, on top of its current 55 billion metres quota, to meet the water needs of a projected population of 150 million people, according to Egypt’s National Planning Institute.

Ahram Online