Hydroelectric Headwaters

New York- I have a new piece out for New Africa Daily on the dispute over the fate of the Blue Nile. As the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, GERD, for short, is over 70% complete, upstream Ethiopia and downstream Egypt seem no closer to resolving their cantankerous issues over how quickly the GERD’s vast reservoir will be filled which-according to Cairo’s narrative-will have a dramatic effect on agrarian dynamics in the Nile Valley as well as the availability of (hopefully) potable water.

Ethiopian leaders, for their part, insist such a drastic downgrading of Egypt’s fresh water supply will not be the result of the GERD finally becoming operational. Meanwhile, a fragile Sudan is wedged in the middle while its fragile transitional government tries to navigate a post-war era. For more, see my new work Heated Hydrology: Averting Conflict Along the Blue Nile.