A report on the potential effects relating to the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is expected to be delivered to President Mohamed Morsi on Sunday by the Egyptian members of an international panel of experts (IPoE) responsible for drafting the findings. The Egyptian delegation is expected to be met by Morsi at the Presidential Palace on Sunday morning. Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohamed Kamel Amr and Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Mohamed Bahaa Al-Din are also expected to attend the meeting, according to a presidential statement published on Sunday. The delegation is expected to present the final findings of the report which could likely be used to form the basis for any decision on the issue of the construction of the dam. According to the presidency's statement the delegation will discuss “the extent to which Egypt's expectations are met in securing water resources" without affecting Egypt's share of the Nile waters. The IPoE tripartite committee is made up of representatives from Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia as well as experts in the fields of water resources, hydrologic modelling and dam engineering. Ethiopia began diverting water from the one of the Nile's main tributaries, the Blue Nile on 28 May. Many described the move as a surprise, but Bahaa Al-Din denied this saying the process started “some time ago". He also described the diversion of the water to be an “engineering procedure", adding that it would not stop the flow of water to Egypt. Prime Minister Hesham Qandil met with his Ethiopian counterpart Hailemariam Desalegn on Saturday on the sidelines of an international conference on African Development being held in Tokyo. The two prime ministers agreed on three principles, the first being the dam would not affect Egypt's share of Nile water. Secondly, Qandil insisted Ethiopia uphold its commitments and prior agreements moving forward. The third principle agreed upon was to wait for the IPoE report before Egypt takes any further action. There are fears in Egypt and Sudan that the construction of the dam will impact the downstream countries' share of the Nile Water. Egypt has held the largest share of the water as per agreements signed in 1929 and 1959, which guaranteed Egypt 55.5 billion cubic metres of the estimated 84 billion cubic metres available annually.
