CAIRO - Ethiopia's giant water project, the 'Dam of the Millennium', could apparently lead to the destruction of 1 million fertile acres in Egypt's Delta. According to an eminent Egyptian water expert, Maghawri Shehata, this huge dam will hold 64 billion cubic metres of Nile water ��" the same as Egypt and Sudan's combined annual quota of the river's water. Ignoring Egypt's protests, the Ethiopian government has already laid the foundation stone for one of the continent's biggest water projects. Addis Abbaba is determined to go ahead with the construction of a dam, which will produce much-needed energy in the country. Ethiopia instigated Egypt's discontent, first of all, by signing a six-party treaty, suggested to amend two Nile treaties signed in 1929 and 1956. The other signatories to the new, controversial treaty are Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi. The Egyptian water expert says that the Ethiopian dam would lead to a sharp drop in the flow of the Nile in Egypt and Sudan. “This means the Aswan High Dam will produce less electricity,” Shehata warns, adding that Israel is helping Ethiopia with its project. “Israel has got involved, as it's thirsty for Nile water. Israel dreams of using Nile water to grow crops in its deserts,” he explains, claiming that Israel has been 'troubling the waters' between Egypt and other Nile Basin states for its own ends. Shehata, who associates Israel's extensive influence in Africa with the long-standing enmity between Egypt and the Jewish State, says that Sudan could help ease Egypt's water shortage. He suggests that Egyptian water officials ought to look into using water from the Nile's three tributaries in Sudan: the Blue River, the Atbara River and the Soubat River. “Egypt mustn't delay, as the threat is a very serious one. What we need is an ad hoc committee of representatives from the Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation, the National Security Agency and the Ministry of International Co-operation to examine joint water projects with other Nile Basin states, including Sudan,” he says. “Egypt should also put more effort into joint water projects in Southern Sudan to help compensate for the loss of Ethiopian Nile water.” Shehata suggests that subterranean water in central and south Sinai and in the Eastern Desert could compensate for the shortage. “There are also 600 billion cubic metres of subterranean water in the Western Desert, enough to irrigate one million acres.” Egypt has initiated a regional campaign to persuade the six countries which have signed the above-mentioned treaty to change their minds. Last month, acting Prime Minister Essam Sharaf visited Sudan and Southern Sudan. He is also due to visit Ethiopia to boost co-operation between the two countries. A public delegation from Egypt is expected to visit Ethiopia for a fence-mending trip. Meanwhile, Uganda's president welcomed a visit by a non-governmental Egyptian delegation to Ethiopia for talks on a new treaty signed by upstream countries for the equitable sharing of the Nile waters. Moustafa el-Gendi, the head of the team and assistant secretary general of the opposition Al-Wafd Party, said that he had received a phone call from Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni affirming that Ethiopia welcomed the visit. El-Gendi said that the visit came after Burundi last month signed a new deal reached by other upstream countries, paving the way for its ratification to strip Egypt's and Sudan's massive rights to the Nile. "We will meet the Ethiopian Prime Minister for talks on the sharing of the Nile water," said el-Gendi said.
