[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 146 (Friday, August 13, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E899-E900]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                BRINGING ATTENTION TO GERD NEGOTIATIONS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. DARRELL ISSA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, August 13, 2021

  Mr. ISSA. Madam Speaker, I rise today to bring attention to the 
negotiations regarding the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. I include 
in the Record the article, ``Only Washington Can Save the Renaissance 
Dam Negotiations Now,'' written by Ambassador Motaz Zahran, published 
on April 29, 2021.

                         [From Foreign Policy]

     Only Washington Can Save the Renaissance Dam Negotiations Now

      (By Motaz Zahran, Ambassador of Egypt to the United States)

       In early April, Ethiopia thwarted yet another mediation 
     process, this time led by the African Union, to resolve an 
     escalating crisis on the Nile--where Ethiopia is building the 
     massive Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), which would 
     disrupt a primary source of water for Egypt and Sudan. The 
     negotiations represented what the Egyptian foreign ministry 
     called Ethiopia's ``last chance'' at a resolution to the 
     dispute, which has been ongoing for 10 years.
       With Ethiopia edging closer to unilaterally filling the 
     dam's reservoir for a second time--and thus crossing the 
     ``red line'' set by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi--
     it may be up to the United States to help broker a peaceful 
     solution and prevent unrest in the region, which forces of 
     extremism and terrorism would undoubtedly look to exploit.
       The Biden administration, which is currently mulling over 
     the best policy for managing this situation, must act now. At 
     stake is the future of the Nile, a lifeline for millions of 
     Egyptians and Sudanese. In 2011, without consulting either of 
     its neighbors downstream, Ethiopia began constructing a 509-
     foot-tall concrete dam--large enough for a reservoir that can 
     store twice as much water as Lake Mead, the largest 
     artificial reservoir in the United States--on the Blue Nile, 
     a vital upstream portion of the Nile River. If unilaterally 
     filled and operated, the GERD could inflict incalculable 
     socioeconomic and environmental harm downstream in Egypt and 
     Sudan. Last year, flouting a 2015 treaty, Ethiopia started an 
     initial filling of the dam.

[[Page E900]]

       Now, balking at calls for an equitable resolution and 
     consistent with its established policy of unilaterally 
     exploiting of international rivers, Ethiopia is vowing to 
     press ahead with a second substantial phase of reservoir 
     filling this summer.
       The threat the GERD poses is not hypothetical but real. 
     Choking off an essential supply of water would exponentially 
     increase the dangers posed by climate change in the region. 
     As one of the most arid countries in the world, with less 
     than one-sixteenth the amount of rainfall as Ethiopia, Egypt 
     is already facing severe water shortages, largely because of 
     rising temperatures and rising sea levels. In fact, Egyptians 
     are currently living around 50 percent below the water-
     poverty line, and with very little annual rainfall, the 
     country is almost entirely dependent on the Nile for 
     renewable water. To manage such conditions, Egypt has adopted 
     a nationwide system of reusing water several times for 
     agriculture, achieving one of the world's highest overall 
     irrigation system efficiencies.
       Despite Ethiopia's claims that hydropower projects will 
     cause no harm, the unilateral filling and operation of 
     Ethiopia's dam would quickly make matters far worse for both 
     Egypt and Sudan, causing serious environmental and 
     socioeconomic damage, potentially forcing droves of families 
     from their homes.
       Further, the GERD would also have deleterious effects on 
     Egypt's Aswan High Dam, a multipurpose dam, which is the 
     biggest source of renewable energy in Egypt and is 
     indispensable in securing the water needs of Egypt and Sudan. 
     The United Nations notes that every 2 percent drop in 
     available water impacts 1 million people.
       An impact study, conducted by the reputable Dutch firm 
     Deltares, found that unilateral filling of the GERD could 
     lead to a water shortage in Egypt of more than 123 billion 
     cubic meters, and that in the agricultural sector alone, 
     every 1 billion cubic meter shortage of water caused by 
     unilateral filling or operation of the GERD, would result in 
     forcing 290,000 people out of work, destroying more than 
     321,230 acres of cultivated land, an increase of $150 million 
     in food imports, and a loss of $430 million of agricultural 
     production.
       The threat the GERD poses is not hypothetical but real. 
     Right now, another dam built by Ethiopia is causing enormous 
     harm in Kenya. The fallout is so severe that UNESCO warned of 
     the extinction of Lake Turkana in Kenya. There has also been 
     reporting and research on other Ethiopian unilateral actions, 
     including in the Juba and Shabelle basin, without prior 
     consultation with Somalia, and their significant negative 
     impact on water access and security in Somalia.
       The social and economic instability triggered by such 
     unilateral policies could generate greater unrest in the 
     region. And Ethiopia is stoking the flames by villainizing 
     Sudan and Egypt by pushing the misleading populist narrative 
     that attempts to characterize any and all concerns about the 
     GERD as being rooted in colonialism, claiming that its 
     downstream neighbors are against Ethiopia's development and 
     are trying to impose upon Ethiopia ``colonial treaties.''
       The situation as it stands today was entirely avoidable. 
     This mischaracterization is designed to allow Ethiopia to 
     divert attention from its actual international legal 
     obligations toward its downstream neighbors, which include 
     several international treaties that Ethiopia signed--all, 
     with no single exception, as a sovereign independent state--
     including in 1902, 1993, and 2015. These treaties served and 
     continue to serve Ethiopia's national interests, including, 
     for example, in relation to its borders. Nonetheless, while 
     Ethiopia has reaped the benefits from signing these treaties, 
     it repeatedly attempted to shirk its obligations related to 
     the Nile River under the very same treaties.
       The situation as it stands today was entirely avoidable. A 
     viable solution has been on the table. In 2019, following a 
     decade of adamantly rejecting any kind of agreement, much 
     less the participation of any mediators or observers, 
     Ethiopia finally accepted the participation and input of 
     Washington and the World Bank in the process. The three 
     countries were on the verge of signing an equitable 
     agreement, a compromise deal inspired by the successful model 
     of cooperation governing the Senegal River Basin. But at the 
     eleventh hour, Ethiopia abruptly backed out and claimed that 
     the proposed agreement deprived Ethiopia from its right to 
     generate electricity efficiently from the GERD or undergo 
     future projects, and that it tried to impose water shares to 
     which Ethiopia does not subscribe.
       Contrary to Ethiopian claims, this compromise deal assured 
     Ethiopia that it will generate hydropower from the GERD 
     sustainably at optimum levels, in all hydrological 
     conditions, while protecting the downstream countries from 
     ravaging droughts. It unambiguously stipulated that it is not 
     a water-allocation agreement, clearly recognized Ethiopia's 
     right to undertake future projects on the Blue Nile in 
     accordance with applicable international law, and allowed the 
     parties to revisit the agreement in 10 years.
       Today, one year later, negotiations are still faltering 
     under the auspices of the African Union, and Ethiopia's 
     statements have now disclosed the actual reason it abandoned 
     the Washington talks: Ethiopia rejects any legally binding 
     agreement on the rules of filling and operation of its new 
     dam, demanding a framework of nonbinding guidelines that it 
     could alter at its whim. This is in contradiction with the 
     2015 Agreement on Declaration of Principles among the three 
     countries.
       Even though Ethiopia's political statements speak to its 
     commitment to the African Union-led mediation process, 
     invoking the shared principle ``African solutions for African 
     problems,'' Ethiopia's actions clearly undermine, in effect, 
     the role of the African Union. This has been evidenced by 
     Ethiopia's categorical rejection, in the most recent meeting 
     in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, in April, of 
     multiple joint proposals from Sudan and Egypt to empower the 
     African Union-led process. That's because Ethiopia prefers a 
     nominal role for the chairperson at the African Union rather 
     than an active role.
       A new era of stability and shared economic prosperity is on 
     the horizon in Africa and the Middle East, due in large part 
     to the steady leadership of the United States. One example of 
     the welcome changes sweeping through the region is the recent 
     U.S.-brokered normalization agreements between Israel and a 
     number of Arab states, which was reminiscent of Egypt's 
     trailblazing treaty with Israel--also mediated by the United 
     States--more than 40 years ago.
       Through principled diplomacy, the Biden administration can 
     reset the faltering negotiations. The United States has the 
     leverage needed to successfully encourage Ethiopia to engage 
     in good faith in the GERD negotiations and to refrain from 
     unilateral actions and the pursuit of narrow self-interests, 
     which have been detrimental to its neighbors' legitimate 
     interests. Soliciting expertise from international partners, 
     including the United Nations, the European Union, and the 
     United States, in support of the African Union-led mediation 
     process would be invaluable in bringing the negotiations to 
     fruition as soon as possible. This proposal would also ensure 
     there's no room to falsely point fingers; it would not be 
     feasible to challenge the impartiality of all these partners 
     led by the chairperson of the African Union, the way Ethiopia 
     did with U.S. President Donald Trump's administration after 
     Ethiopia abandoned the U.S.-led mediation process last year.
       History shows that progress along the Nile can be fragile, 
     and a single dispute can have harmful ripple effects that 
     destabilize the region and reach our allies in the West. 
     Failing to resolve the rapidly escalating issue over the GERD 
     would accelerate the already devastating impacts of climate 
     change in the area, unleash a wave of illegal migration to 
     the West, and open the door to new conflicts and even 
     terrorism in the Middle East and East Africa.
       Through principled diplomacy, the Biden administration can 
     reset the faltering negotiations, bring about an equitable 
     solution for all parties, and, in doing so, ultimately 
     safeguard its strategic interests with three important 
     regional allies.

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