Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2014 20:59:50 +0100
Alternative water supplies
The dispute between Cairo and Addis Ababa over the Renaissance Dam sees a
long abandoned project given a new lease of life. Reem Leila reports
Friday,28 February, 2014
When Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmi met with Tanzanian President Jakaya
Kikwete on 23 February Ethiopia's Renaissance Dam was one of the topics
discussed. During the meeting Kikwete told Fahmi that Tanzania would work to
ensure that the Nile remained a source of cooperation between Nile Basin
countries, not conflict.
"Nile Basin countries should consult and decide on a mutually agreeable
arrangement prior to the construction of any dams," said Kikwete.
Consultation with downstream countries should have taken place before
establishing any project that might affect the flow of Nile, added
Tanzania's president. "No Nile Basin country should suffer from the
construction of the Grand Renaissance Dam."
Spokesman of the Foreign Ministry Badr Abdel-Atti agreed with Kikwete saying
that cooperation between Nile Basin countries should be based on dialogue
and understanding of each others' needs in order to accomplish common
benefits for all Nile Basin countries.
Meanwhile, in the absence of such consultation, Egypt is exploring ways it
might make up the shortfall in its water needs if the $4 billion Renaissance
Dam is completed.
A recent study, conducted by Gamal Al-Qalyoubi, professor of petroleum and
energy at the American University in Cairo (AUC), on connecting the Nile and
Congo water systems, suggests one possible way of ensuring water security.
The River Congo pours more than 1,000 billion cubic meters of water each
year into the Atlantic. "Water could be diverted by digging a 600 kilometer
canal from the White Nile in southern Sudan to northern Sudan and then to
Lake Nasser," said Al-Qalyoubi.
The canal, he said, could provide Egypt with an additional 95 billion cubic
meters annually, almost double its current share of 55.5 billion cubic
meters of Nile water.
"Digging the canal would take two years and the entire project, including
four pumping stations to transport water from the Congo basin to the Nile
basin as well as infrastructure works needed to move the water, would cost
$8 billion."
It is hardly a new idea. The project, points out water expert Diaa Al-Qousy,
was mooted as early as 1902 by Apata Basha, Sudanese Minister of Irrigation
at that time. In 1980 Anwar Al-Sadat dispatched a delegation to the Congo in
an attempt to revive the project only for the initiative to stall following
the 1981 assassination of Sadat.
For such a huge project to succeed, says Al-Qousy, it must garner
international support and guarantees that the hugely expensive
infrastructure can be properly secured. "Both Egypt and Congo should start
pushing the project as Egypt's only way out from the current crisis with
Ethiopia. They must also begin the process of attracting the necessary
funding."
Former Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Nasreddin Allam questions
the viability of the canal. The swamps of Southern Sudan, he argues, present
a major obstacle to digging. He also questions the political costs of the
project. "International treaties prohibit the transfer of river waters
outside their basins. Egypt cannot risk violating this international
principle, not to mention the very high cost of such a project," he warns.
The Congo and White Nile flow at different altitudes and linking them would
require the construction of a huge dam as well as the digging of canals.
"Even if the government did overcome all the technical and financial
obstacles to the project Egypt would still be in danger of violating
international rules," says Allam.
"The Congo's tributaries flow through Cameroon, Guinea and the Central
African Republic, each of which could file a lawsuit in front of the
International Court of Justice which they are certain to
<http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/UI/Front/>
winhttp://cdncache1-a.akamaihd.net/items/it/img/arrow-10x10.png. Egypt then
will be the only loser."
Al-Qousi is unconvinced by Allam's arguments. He insists there is no legal
impediment to linking the rivers. Water experts have reviewed more than 300
river agreements and none of them contain legal deterrents to the project,
he says.
Cameroon, Guinea and the Central African Republic could easily be convinced
of the mutual benefits that will accrue from the project, says Al-Qalyoubi.
And money, he adds, could be forthcoming from oil-rich Arab countries. Congo
will welcome the project which will alleviate the flooding of agricultural
lands, and such approval will be instrumental in winning the support of the
international community and donor nations. "The River Congo lies on the
equator and is fed by massive rainfalls. The project has any number of
benefits for Congo, including the generation of cheap electricity," says
Al-Qalyoubi.
According to a study conducted by the Mineral Resources Authority linking
the Nile with the Congo River includes three different alternatives that
would determine the path of the water. The length of the first proposed
canal would be 424 kilometres with a water-level altitude differential of
1,500 metres, which would be impossible to implement.
The second alternative is to have the canal length 940 kilometres, with an
altitude differential of 400 metres. Meanwhile, the third alternative would
carry the water a distance of 600 kilometres with an altitude differential
of 200 metres.
According to Al-Qousi, the last alternative has the best chances of being
implemented, through the use of four consecutive water-pumping stations.
"The project would be capable of generating 300 trillion watts of
electricity per hour, enough to satisfy all of Africa's electricity needs,"
claims Al-Qousi. And according to the feasibility study undertaken by the
Mineral Resources Authority the project will necessitate the construction of
a road and rail network that could form the core of a trans-continental
transport system, thus promoting trade between Egypt the rest of Africa.
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