/Getty ImagesEgypt sticks to its proposals regarding the filling and operation of Ethiopia's new upstream dam on their shared Nile River, Egypt's Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation said in a statement on Wednesday. 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. 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