Mereja.Forum

While everyone is currently focused on the volume of water that would be affected during the filling of GERD, the implicit concern of Egypt is on the flow of silt and minerals. The secret of Egypt’s civilization and agriculture depends heavily on the fertile silt of natural nutrients and rich minerals that come from the Ethiopia plateau each year by the flood waters of several rivers. The dam will deprive Egypt of these free resources and impact their farmers and fishers.

So if Ethiopia wanted to hurt Egypt, the easiest solution would be to restrict the flow of this cultivable soil by intensive forestation in all Ethiopian highlands. This could be in form of conservation tillage & irrigation, terraces like in Tigray, livestock, several state parks, supervised national forest like the Colorado national forest.

No, that is not accurate.

Egypt does not need any more the sediments that the Nile floods used to carry downstream for millennia.

One, enough alluvial soil has been deposited for tens of thousands of years along the Nile plain in Egypt. Egypt does not need the silt.

Two, the silt has in fact become a burden and harmful after the construction of the High Aswan Dam because it significantly reduced the water storage capacity of the Dam. In fact, the High Aswan Dam could be out of operation after some decades due to the accumulation of silt.

Silt, no more! In fact, one of the benefits that the GERD is expected to provide for the two downstream countries is controlling the undesirable silt, in addition to controlling dangerous floods during the rainy season.

Good points though I haven’t seen any document coming from Egyptian or Sudanese side that suggests a desire to keep the fertile Nile soil and minerals in Ethiopia. But I stand to be corrected. That being said, what about sedimentation in GERD reservoir itself?

gagi wrote: ↑

08 Mar 2020, 17:20

No, that is not accurate.

Egypt does not need any more the sediments that the Nile floods used to carry downstream for millennia.

One, enough alluvial soil has been deposited for tens of thousands of years along the Nile plain in Egypt. Egypt does not need the silt.

Two, the silt has in fact become a burden and harmful after the construction of the High Aswan Dam because it significantly reduced the water storage capacity of the Dam. In fact, the High Aswan Dam could be out of operation after some decades due to the accumulation of silt.

Silt, no more! In fact, one of the benefits that the GERD is expected to provide for the two downstream countries is controlling the undesirable silt, in addition to controlling dangerous floods during the rainy season.

Which side will win if Egypt attacks Ethiopia over water supply?


https://www.quora.com/Which-side-will-w ... ter-supply

12. Egypt is grossly vulnerable to counter attack. Ethiopia can put the plutonium stockpiles it has into lake nasser or just on the border Nile and pretty much turn the entire water north of sudan radioactive. They could just drop salt blocks into the water and make it useless. They could just fill the river with dirt and back it up. They can hit the Aswan dam back as well with special forces and it would be far more damaging to Egypt.

Sedimentation will also be the single most problem that GERD will be faced with. There is a need for massive watershed management across the Blue Nile basin. Vegetation cover should increase over the Ethiopian highlands. A great deal of flood control structure, extensive terraceing and retention work are required. Farming styles should change.

Even with extensive and sustained watershed management, the dam will increasingly suffer from siltation.

One of the reasons for power shortage that Addis Ababa has been faced with since the late 1980s was the decrease in Koka dam’s power generation due to siltation. That was why the height of the Koka dam had to be raised.

For more of my views on the GERD you may go through the exchanges I have had with forumers at Warka several years ago, with my alias ጋጊ


http://www.cyberethiopia.com/warka14/vi ... =1&t=51965

I know we all have heard the golden rule of the modern era. There is no such thing as free lunch on permanent basis. Egypt should have known this coming long time ago. Even it wasn't Ethiopian that is building a dam today it is inevitable for other riparian countries undertaking similar projects. They all have the same elephant in the room, growing population that will not be able to sustain/feed itself on outmoded agrarian economy. They have to apply modern technology to their economy which means irrigation, stemming erosion that left their arable land laid bare and building dams to generate electricity needed for these projects. Wind, thermal and solar energy will not provide 100 percent of the electricity needed. So Egypt should have known this is in the offing a century ago. It has enough soil transported there by the Nile already that can be kept fertile It has immense body of water on all three sides that can desalinated into potable water. It is also sitting on a proven aquifer. Egypt needs to put its loafing engineers in gears and go to work. Again, even it was not the old country that is building a dam on the river others would have done the same sooner or later. It is playing the game in the wrong and self destructing way.

Ituabaferda,

Now, it is our responsibility to enlighten our to recognize these emerging and inevitable futures and help them prepare for it. This is huge, huge matter far beyond anything we have experienced.

“The allies of Egypt will fall and her proud strength will fail. From Migdol to Aswan they will fall by the sword within her, declares the Sovereign LORD.” Ezekiel 30:6

ግብጽን የደገፉ ሁሉ ይወድቃሉ
ሕዝ 30-6