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Egypt lays out case against Ethiopia in renewed dispute over Nile water

thenationalnews.com · 3h · first reportShare

Egypt has set out its most detailed recent public case in the Nile dispute, warning that its high dependence on the river leaves little room for unilateral action upstream. Egypt's case centres on Ethiopia's Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and a broader argument that Ethiopian development does not depend on controlling the Nile's flow. At a press briefing in Cairo on Sunday, Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Hani Sewilam said Egypt's water security rests on an exceptionally narrow base. More than 98 per cent of its renewable water comes from beyond its borders, while its annual renewable supply of about 56.8 billion cubic metres falls far short of estimated needs of 123 billion cubic metres. “Egypt is an extremely arid country that relies almost entirely on the Nile,” Mr Sewilam said. Per capita availability has fallen to about 472 cubic metres a year, below the 500-cubic-metre threshold commonly used to define so-called absolute water scarcity. Mr Sewilam used those figures to r