Egypt Blames Ethiopia for Worsening Floods in Sudan
(MENAFN) Egypt has accused Ethiopia of “reckless management” of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Nile, blaming its operation for worsening floods and threatening lives in Sudan and Egypt.
In a Friday statement, the Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation condemned Addis Ababa’s handling of the dam as a violation of international law, highlighting a “lack of transparency and responsibility.” The ministry tied recent floods in Sudan and looming risks to Egyptian lands to “illegal” dam operations conducted without coordination. It also accused Ethiopia’s repeated assurances of harmlessness as “political exploitation of water at the expense of life.”
Ethiopia’s Ministry of Water and Energy strongly rejected the claims on Saturday, branding them “malicious and baseless” and asserting that Cairo’s accusations were “riddled with falsehoods and misrepresentations.” Ethiopian officials pointed to decades of data showing that before GERD, peak Nile flows in August and September regularly surpassed 800 million cubic meters per day. In contrast, this year’s GERD outflows averaged 155 million cubic meters in August and 472 million in September, indicating the dam has actually reduced flooding.
“The numbers speak for themselves,” the Ethiopian ministry said, emphasizing that GERD has lessened flood damage and safeguarded downstream communities. Addis Ababa also pledged continued cooperation with Sudan to manage the Nile.
“Ethiopia will continue to work closely with the relevant Sudanese authorities and experts to ensure that the GERD will continue to be a blessing to Sudan by mitigating the devastating level of flood that would have been caused in Khartoum had it not been for the GERD,” the ministry added.
This dispute has reignited following Ethiopia’s recent launch of the GERD, Africa’s largest hydroelectric project with a 5.15-gigawatt capacity. Ethiopia views the dam as critical to expanding electricity access in the continent’s second-most populous country, where nearly half the population lacks reliable power. Meanwhile, Egypt and Sudan fear the dam will disrupt water flows, especially during droughts.
Egypt has warned that even a 2% cut in its Nile water supply could result in the loss of roughly 200,000 acres of farmland, jeopardizing national food security. Sudan has expressed similar concerns.
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