Ethiopia Redirects Blue Nile for Dam Construction

The Blue Nile's Origin
Lake Tana, Ethiopia
(photo: Ondrej Zvacek via commons.wikipedia.org)

The Blue Nile, which supplies the famed river with more than three-quarters of its overall water supply, will soon undergo an historic diversion. According to a BBC report, the Ethiopian government will modify the river channel to accommodate the construction requirements of a massive hydroelectric project called the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

This rather breathtaking diversion has given Sudan and Egypt the jitters. Both nations are highly dependent upon the Nile for its share of blue gold. The BBC report noted that Nile water rights are governed by a colonial-era agreement that has somehow remained solid through the subsequent decades.

As the planet's useful water supply diminishes, water rights will become a profoundly hot button political and social issue. A case in point from the here and now is the Jordan River valley, which nourishes the eponymous nation, the Palestinian territories, and Israel. If one extrapolates from that conundrum to other water "choke points," it's easy to conclude there will be an increasing number of crises over water control.