Nile
Nile River
Basin
Sudd Swamp
Blue
Nile
White Nile
Basin Population
Eritea
1%
• Ten Riparian States
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Egypt
Sudan
Ethiopia
Uganda
Rwanda
Tanzania
Kenya
D.R. Congo
Eritrea
Burundi
Burundi
2%
Congo
16%
Egypt
22%
Kenya
9%
Tanzania
10%
Rwanda
2%
Sudan
11%
Uganda
7%
Ethiopia
20%
Issues in the
Nile Basin
Ethiopia
Egypt
•Generates
85% water
reaching
Egypt’s Aswah
Dam
•96%
of population
live
in
Nile
Sudan
•Second
most populated
Delta/Basin
riparian
statein Basin
•60% of Land
Mass
•Entirely dependent on Nile waters –
•“The
Single
most
important
Swamp
– Evap
loss
of
Only•Sudd
4%
from
underground
reserves
strategic
interest
striving
50%
of all
Wateris in
Whiteto
attain food
in a
•Considered
thesecurity
most powerful
Nile
chronically
famine-prone
riparian
state
in basin
region…and
scenarios
•Civil all
war
[involve] more intense use of
•Historically
always
sided
the western Nile
watershed”
Waterbury
with Egypt
in Nile Issues
Unique Issues to Nile Basin
• Historic precedence
– Colonial and Egyptian control
• Egypt and Northern Sudan do not
contribute to water generation in the Nile
• Majority of the riparian states became
independent nations since the 1960’s
• Political and economic basis weak
International Agreements
• 1899 Anglo-Egyptian
– No water withdrawn upstream of Egypt without Egyptian
and British consent
• 1929 – Egyptian and British Agreement
– British represented Kenya, Tanzania and Sudan
– 93% water of Nile allocated to Egypt, 7% to Sudan
– All upstream projects approved by Egypt
• 1959 – Egypt and Sudan
– 75% to Egypt, 25% to Sudan
– Rejected by all of the other riparian states when
they became independent
Water Allocation in the Basin
1959 Allocation
Agreement between
Egypt and Sudan
Sudan
25%
Egypt
75%
Riparian States Interests
• Status Quo
– Egypt
– Uganda
• New Allocations
– Ethiopia
– Sudan
– Eritrea
• Indifferent
– Kenya, Tanzania, Congo, Rwanda, Burundi
How do you allocate the water in
the Nile?
Beaumont’s Proposal
50/50 Historical/Generation
80000
Million Cubic Meters/Year
70000
Proposed
Allocation
60000
Current
Proposed Allotment
50000
Sudan
27%
40000
30000
20000
10000
Ethiopia
44%
0
Egypt
Ethiopia
Sudan
Egypt
29%
Brichier-Colomba (1996)
33% weight to each factor
Population of Riparian’s country
in Basin
80000
70000
Riparian's Area of Basin
Million Cubic Meters/Year
60000
50000
Current Allotment
Proposed Allotment
Average amount of water used
40000
30000
Sudan
27%
20000
10000
Egypt
54%
0
Egypt
Ethiopia
Sudan
Ethiopia
19%
What factors should be
considered for allocations in
the Nile Basin?
Waterbury’s Criteria
Equal Weighting for each factor
• Ratio of water flowing across a riparian's border to
the total discharge of the watercourse
• Proportion of the ripairan's total population living in
the basin
• Total amount of irrigable land that could be farmed
with watercourse water without extra-basin transfers
• Amount of alternative, utilizable water available in
aquifers, regionally appropriate rainfall and stored
water (deductions)
• Basin needs per capita to protect life and basic
health
• Allocation necessary to protect existing wetlands
and ecosystems
What’s Happening in the
Basin?
Recent History of Cooperation
• 1992
– Council of Ministers of Water Affairs (Nile-COM)
– All riparian states represented
• 1995
– Nile River Basin Action Plan
– Cooperative framework for management of the Nile
– Endorsed by all riparians
• 1997
– World Bank agrees to play a lead role in coordinating external finances
• 1997
– Egypt announces (unilaterally) New Nile Valley Development
• 1998
– NBI Shared Vision Plan developed
• 1999
– Nile Basin Initiative formally established
Nile Basin Initiative
• Goal:
– Achieve sustainable socioeconomic development through the
equitable utilization of, and benefit from the common resources
• Objectives:
– Develop water resources in a sustainable and equitable way to
ensure prosperity, security and peace for all its people
– Ensure efficient water management and optimal use
– Ensure cooperation and joint action between states
– Target poverty eradication and promote economic integration
– Ensure the program results in a move from planning to action
Recent Developments, cont.
• 2001
– Sub-Basin agreements between Egypt,
Sudan and Ethiopia
– Agreement to build dams and expand
irrigation within Ethiopia with the plan to sell
power to Sudan and Egypt
• Sept. 28, 2005
– Largest ever dam to be built in Ethiopia at
Kara Dobe on the Awash River with Sudan
and Egypt providing financial support
Questions
•
How did colonialism influence the development of water
resources in the Nile basin?
•
What factors impinge on the reaching agreement among the Nile
River Riparian nations?
•
Beaumont (2002) proposes a water allocation scheme to fit the
“equitable and reasonable” call in the 1997 UN Convention on a
50% generation/50% historical split. Is this is applicable to the
Nile River Basin?
•
The Nile Basin Initiative did not start with specific water projects,
but rather education, development of skilled personnel and
inclusiveness of all stakeholders. Will this work?