Nile water rights and rainwater harvesting

SOMEONE somewhere in the not-too-distant past predicted (?) that the next World War’d be a creature of water shortage for domestic, industrial, hydropower generation, agriculture and livestock uses.

[Another ‘Sheikh’ predicted that the next’d be Oil Wars resulting from too little, too expensive oil supplies… But, that’s another story…]

One part of Planet Earth where a Water WW is likely to break out in the foreseeable future is Africa as it relates to River Nile.

But, there’s a preventive to that, which people seem to shun… And the few who raise it have their voices drowned in the sabre-rattling. It’s a fairly simple ‘solution’ and, as one sage once said, it’s the simple solutions that’re routinely trampled underfoot in the mad rush to play the melodramatic.

But, I jump the gun here…

The story today’s about the waters of the River Nile which flow from Lake Victoria and finally into the Mediterranean Sea 4,037 miles (6,600km) away. The Nile’s the world’s longest river, rich in History in ways more than one. It’s today at the centre of controversy that threatens to lead to confrontation of Biblical proportions.

This is as seen in the context of two camps whose interests in the River in terms of Water Rights is becoming more and more divergent and urgent. This is amid the looming global water shortage.

One camp comprises Egypt and The Sudan to the North. Both have been the largest consumers of the Nile Waters from time immemorial. They still are – and plan to so remain well into the future.

The other camp comprises seven upstream countries and one in the peripheral. These are Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Tanzania and, of course, the Democratic Republic of Congo.

[It’s technically erroneous to say Lake Victoria is the ‘source’ of the Nile. Water from catchment areas beyond the lake flows into it – and then flows therefrom via the Nile. But, that’s another story…].

Perhaps with the exception of the DRC, the other countries can be said to have two things in common: they all are situate in the 3-million square-kilometre Nile Basin. That’s about 10% of the continent’s total area.

The other common thread running through them’s they are in ‘Black Africa,’ while the other two downstream are ‘MENA’ (Middle East & North Africa) countries with large Arab populations.

But, no matter…

About 160m souls out of the around 300m combined population have a direct stake in the waters, heavily depending on them for their livelihood. While the population – and, therefore, demand for the Nile waters – is steadily rising, the supply is steadily dwindling!
Estimates have it that the ‘Nile’ population will top the 600m mark 25 years hence. This is alongside expanding industrial and agricultural activities.

At the other end of the spectrum, the equation is unbalanced by the fact that Nile water flows (as measured at the Aswan) have fallen from 110bn cubic metres between 1870 and 1899 to 81.5bn cm during 1954 to 1988.

However, by dint of some (British) colonial quirk in 1929 – and tugenbund-type (brotherhood in times of doubt and insecurity) pact entered into by Egypt and the Sudan in 1954 – the two countries have ‘rights’ to about 94% of the Nile waters, leaving a paltry 6% for the other 7-8 nations upstream!

The crux of the problem today’s that hard-headed Egypt – dragging meek Sudan along by the scruff of its metaphorical neck – seeks to perpetuate the lopsided rights to Eternity, by hook and by crook.

The arrogance of it all’s that Egypt says the upstream countries weren’t even on the world map as distinct entities when the disputed water rights were drawn up. In true Hitlerite fashion, the Egyptians don’t rule out war to ensure their will dominates absolutely!

Nine of the ten riparian states established the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) in 1999 as “a joint programme to develop the river in a co-operative manner,” and justly share its economic benefits.

In due course of time and events, seven upstream countries sought to sign a new accord that’d redistribute the water rights judiciously. But Egypt and Sudan refuse to go along with that, dodging – like the Artful Dodger it is fast becoming – the signing of the relative Cooperative Framework Agreement.

I’ve a simple proposal. If Egypt and the Sudan want to perpetuate the extant water rights, they should undertake to finance two projects which’d ensure sustainable water availability for upstream states.

One: finance durable rainwater harvesting projects for those countries... And, two: finance a project to permanently clear the sudd that obstructs water flow in the White Nile, causing considerable water loss through evaporation.

If the two have been asked of this and pooh-poohed it, then they have no higher moral ground from which to insist on depriving their colleagues upstream their God-given right to duly enjoy the fruits of Mother Nature and Father Time!