Africa-Press-Ethiopia<\/p>\n
Egypt\u2019s Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Mohamed Abdel-Ati said on Sunday that the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and overpopulation are the two most serious challenges that could negatively affect Egypt\u2019s water resources in the coming years.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile the Ethiopian dam might cut Egypt\u2019s quota of Nile River water, particularly at times of drought, the country\u2019s runaway growth of population exerts huge pressure on available water resources,\u201d said Abdel-Ati.<\/p>\n
Addressing a meeting held by the Senate\u2019s Defence and National Security Committee, Abdel-Ati said Ethiopia\u2019s dam, overpopulation, and climate changes will force the country to develop a new water management strategy in the coming years. \u201cWe have to rationalise our use of water in order to be able to absorb the shock of these three challenges,\u201d said Abdel-Ati.<\/p>\n
He indicated that Egypt began adopting a new strategy five years ago based on recycling water, lining water canals, setting up water desalination stations, and reducing the areas of high-water consuming crops like rice and bananas.<\/p>\n
Abdel-Ati said there is a kind of water imbalance in Egypt at present. \u201cEgypt needs 114 billion cubic metres of water every year, but what we have at the present stands at just 74 billion cubic metres, and this means that we have a 90 percent deficit in water resources\u201d said Abdel-Ati, adding that \u201cwe cover this deficit by importing agricultural crops and products and recycling water.\u201d<\/p>\n
Osama El-Gindi, head of the Senate\u2019s Defence and National Security Committee, said the GERD negotiations show that Egypt\u2019s national water security is in danger and that the country has to do all that is possible to preserve its water rights and security.<\/p>\n
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Africa-Press-Ethiopia Egypt\u2019s Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Mohamed Abdel-Ati said on Sunday that the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and overpopulation are the two most serious challenges that could negatively affect Egypt\u2019s water resources in the coming years. \u201cWhile the Ethiopian dam might cut Egypt\u2019s quota of Nile River water, particularly at times of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":4432,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6],"tags":[241,243],"class_list":["post-4431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-files","tag-africa-press-ethiopia","tag-gerd"],"yoast_head":"\n