Egypt seeks a minimum annual flow of 40 billion cubic meters of water from the Blue Nile branch to its lands, according to the statement. Upstream Nile Basin country Ethiopia started building its Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in 2011, while Egypt, a downstream country, is concerned that the dam might affect its 55.5-billion-cubic-meter annual share of Nile water. The Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation denied the claims of some "malicious media" that Egypt's share of the Nile water will decline to 35 billion cubic meters annually. Filling the reservoir, whose total capacity is 74 billion cubic meters, may take several years. Negotiations involving Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan have been fruitless for years.

Source: Ethiopian News December 25, 2019 17:26 UTC