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The article mention : "Egypt fears its supplies will be reduced during the time it takes to fill the 74-billion-cubic-metre capacity reservoir." From informatio

The article mention : "Egypt fears its supplies will be reduced during the time it takes to fill the 74-billion-cubic-metre capacity reservoir." From information that I can find, the filling can take up to 7 years !

herodoturtle 5y ago
That's a solid insight (the bit about 7 years), thanks for finding that. More detailed excerpt for other HN readers stumbling on this comment: > Ethiopia, one of Africa's fastest growing economies in recent years, insists the dam will not affect the onward flow of water. > But Egypt fears its supplies will be reduced during the time it takes to fill the 74-billion-cubic-metre capacity reservoir. > Egypt considers the dam as a threat to its existence and Sudan has warned millions of lives will be at "great risk" if Ethiopia unilaterally fills the dam. > A decade of negotiations have failed to result in a deal.
- beerandt 5y ago
  The issue is: there are treaties that split water rights between countries, but flooding beyond 100% of capacity at any given point isn't counted. Egypt has been taking advantage of this, allowing the "overflow" from their dam/lake nassar to be syphoned off into the desert, to the extent of trying to develop an entirely new drainage valley into farmland. It is a mega project. Any upriver country that is able to divert the "overflow" water before it gets too Egypt can keep it. So it's basically an argument over who gets to keep the surplus in the water balance of the river. >[1]Use of Nile resources is governed by the Nile Basin Initiative; but the Toshka project does not breach the agreement as water is diverted from Lake Nasser only after heavy water flows upstream have raised lake levels above 178 metres (584 ft) (see above). [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nile_Basin_Initiative https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nile_Basin_Initiative [2]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Valley_Project https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Valley_Project [3]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toshka_Lakes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toshka_Lakes
smnrchrds 5y ago
Also to put things in context, if they rename Egypt to Nile: The Country, it would be more accurate. Egypt is a country of 100 million people, all of them living next to the Nile or in its delta. It's unbelievable how much Egypt is dependant on Nile for its existence. Any disruption in Nile will have severe negative effects on the lives of 100 million people and be an existential threat to Egypt. Just take a look at Egypt's population heat map: https://vividmaps.com/population-density-egypt/ https://vividmaps.com/population-density-egypt/ https://i.redd.it/hs2wfeq62c511.jpg https://i.redd.it/hs2wfeq62c511.jpg
- chrisseaton 5y ago
  > all of them living next to the Nile or in its delta Your own heat map shows that this isn’t the case - they also live on the coast.
  - sebmellen 5y ago
    That’s ridiculous. The darkest areas of the map are quite literally all on the Nile or in the delta.
    - chrisseaton 5y ago
      I don’t know what you think a delta is, but for example Mersa Matruh isn’t in it.
      - csomar 5y ago
        Marsa Matruh is like 60-70k? Egypt has 104 Millions. There are some in Matruh, Sinai, Port Said, or Sharm-Sheikh. But they are insignificant. The majority are living on the nile.
        chrisseaton 5y ago
        > The majority are living on the nile. Earlier it was ‘all’.
MereInterest 5y ago
I'm lacking a bit of context. Your comment implies that 7 years is a long time to fill a reservoir. I can't find, either in your comment or in the article, mention of whether that time is long due to the amount of water needed (the bathtub is big), or whether that timeline is deliberately long to avoid impacting downstream usage (the bathtub faucet is at a trickle). From the article, the Nile river is estimated to carry 84 billion cubic meters per year, so the reservoir holds roughly one Nile-year of water. Filling over 7 years means that the downstream flow would be reduced by ~1/7 during that time period.
- jtbayly 5y ago
  This is an earlier tributary, so it’s definitely not going to be the equivalent of the full Nile in volume.

herodoturtle 5y ago

That's a solid insight (the bit about 7 years), thanks for finding that. More detailed excerpt for other HN readers stumbling on this comment: > Ethiopia, one of Africa's fastest growing economies in recent years, insists the dam will not affect the onward flow of water. > But Egypt fears its supplies will be reduced during the time it takes to fill the 74-billion-cubic-metre capacity reservoir. > Egypt considers the dam as a threat to its existence and Sudan has warned millions of lives will be at "great risk" if Ethiopia unilaterally fills the dam. > A decade of negotiations have failed to result in a deal.

beerandt 5y ago
The issue is: there are treaties that split water rights between countries, but flooding beyond 100% of capacity at any given point isn't counted. Egypt has been taking advantage of this, allowing the "overflow" from their dam/lake nassar to be syphoned off into the desert, to the extent of trying to develop an entirely new drainage valley into farmland. It is a mega project. Any upriver country that is able to divert the "overflow" water before it gets too Egypt can keep it. So it's basically an argument over who gets to keep the surplus in the water balance of the river. >[1]Use of Nile resources is governed by the Nile Basin Initiative; but the Toshka project does not breach the agreement as water is diverted from Lake Nasser only after heavy water flows upstream have raised lake levels above 178 metres (584 ft) (see above). [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nile_Basin_Initiative https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nile_Basin_Initiative [2]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Valley_Project https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Valley_Project [3]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toshka_Lakes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toshka_Lakes

smnrchrds 5y ago

Also to put things in context, if they rename Egypt to Nile: The Country, it would be more accurate. Egypt is a country of 100 million people, all of them living next to the Nile or in its delta. It's unbelievable how much Egypt is dependant on Nile for its existence. Any disruption in Nile will have severe negative effects on the lives of 100 million people and be an existential threat to Egypt. Just take a look at Egypt's population heat map: https://vividmaps.com/population-density-egypt/ https://vividmaps.com/population-density-egypt/ https://i.redd.it/hs2wfeq62c511.jpg https://i.redd.it/hs2wfeq62c511.jpg

chrisseaton 5y ago
> all of them living next to the Nile or in its delta Your own heat map shows that this isn’t the case - they also live on the coast.
- sebmellen 5y ago
  That’s ridiculous. The darkest areas of the map are quite literally all on the Nile or in the delta.
  - chrisseaton 5y ago
    I don’t know what you think a delta is, but for example Mersa Matruh isn’t in it.
    - csomar 5y ago
      Marsa Matruh is like 60-70k? Egypt has 104 Millions. There are some in Matruh, Sinai, Port Said, or Sharm-Sheikh. But they are insignificant. The majority are living on the nile.
      - chrisseaton 5y ago
        > The majority are living on the nile. Earlier it was ‘all’.

MereInterest 5y ago

I'm lacking a bit of context. Your comment implies that 7 years is a long time to fill a reservoir. I can't find, either in your comment or in the article, mention of whether that time is long due to the amount of water needed (the bathtub is big), or whether that timeline is deliberately long to avoid impacting downstream usage (the bathtub faucet is at a trickle). From the article, the Nile river is estimated to carry 84 billion cubic meters per year, so the reservoir holds roughly one Nile-year of water. Filling over 7 years means that the downstream flow would be reduced by ~1/7 during that time period.

jtbayly 5y ago
This is an earlier tributary, so it’s definitely not going to be the equivalent of the full Nile in volume.