Water Security Beyond the Nile Dam

Water Security Beyond the Nile Dam

The heated confrontation over the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam would suggest that it is the only source of danger to Egypt’s water security. There is no doubt that Egypt has historical rights to the Nile, upon which its civilization and existence have been built, and that there are legal and moral obligations governing the use of cross-border shared water resources. Therefore, Ethiopia cannot take unilateral actions affecting other beneficiaries. But the dispute over the dam should not overlook other water challenges facing Egypt, especially the huge population explosion, the alarming pollution of the Nile, and the decrease in the amount of water available as a result of climate change. The threefold increase in the population over 50 years, reaching 100 million today, has led to the multiplication of the demand several times over, for an already dwindling water supply. Did Egypt do enough to meet these challenges?

As I followed the unfolding developments related to the Renaissance Dam in recent days, I recalled a meeting in Cairo back in 2010, to discuss drafts of the report entitled "Water: Sustainable Management of a Scarce Resource", which was published by the Arab Forum for Environment and Development (AFED) at the end of that year.