- Satellite images show Nile dam water rising
- Egypt had ‘excessive demands’ at dam talks, Ethiopia says
Emmanuel Igunza
BBC News, Nairob
Maxar Technologies via Reuters
New satellite images appear to show a rise in water levels in the reservoir of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam built on the River Nile.
The $5bn (£3.9bn) hydropower project is at the centre of a dispute between Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan.
Talks to end the decade-old row ended Monday with no agreement on key technical concerns raised by Egypt and Sudan.
The new satellite images taken between 27 June and 12 July show a steady increase in the amount of water being held back by the dam.
Maxar Technologies via Reuters
It is unclear if works on the dam have facilitated this, as the Ethiopian government has denied it has deliberately started to fill the dam.
Journalist Benjamin Strick, who has been monitoring the satellite pictures, says that seasonal rains have increased the volume of the reservoir behind the dam in the past.
Benjamin Strick@BenDoBrown
Sentinel-1 satellite images from @esa taken over the dam from 27 June and 9 July shows the increase in water being held back at the dam. This is radar imagery, so the water shows as dark, the land is lighter.
It should be noted this is not a unique event and shouldn’t be taken out of context. Since the dam has been created this swelling in the reservoir has happened a few times in the past. My tweets are to show the impact that creates. Here is a timelapse from 1/2018 – 7/2020.
Report – The Ethiopian government has always insisted it will start filling the dam this month during the onset of the rain season.
A final report on contentious issues on the talks will now be submitted to the African Union which mediated the latest round of negotiations.
Ethiopia sees the dam as crucial for its economic development. But Egypt fears the dam, which will be Africa’s largest hydropower project, will greatly reduce its shares of the waters of the River Nile, which it depends on almost entirely.
Read more: Nile Dam row: Egypt and Ethiopia generate heat but no power