The scientific research committee of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) began two-day meetings in Khartoum to discuss options and strategies for filling the dam's reservoir. The committee, which includes a number of experts and academics from Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia, aims to address the observations of Egypt and Sudan on a proposal submitted by Ethiopia at the previous meeting in Cairo. The committee's first meeting was held earlier this month in Cairo. The proposal for the creation of this scientific committee was presented during April's meeting in Khartoum in the presence of the ministers of foreign affairs and irrigation and water resources of the three countries, as well as their respective intelligence leaders. It was further included in the outcome document of the second nine-party meeting in Addis Ababa on 15 May. A third nine-party meeting concerning GERD's technical studies was scheduled to be held on 18-19 June in Cairo, but it was postponed due to a delay in some official procedures. No date has yet been decided for the meeting. Ethiopia is seeking to store 74bn cubic metres of Nile water behind the dam, which will affect Egypt's historic water quota of 55.5bn cubic metres. Ethiopia is promoting the dam to develop the country and asserts that it benefits all countries, including the downstream countries of Egypt and Sudan. Construction on the dam started in April 2011 amid Egyptian concerns that its construction could negatively affect its historic Nile water share, which it has had access to since a 1959 agreement with Sudan.
