Double-Edged Hydropolitics on the Nile - Center for Security Studies ...

<strong>Double</strong>-<strong>Edged</strong> <strong>Hydropolitics</strong> on the Nile
Given the current asymmetrical situation of de facto water abstraction,
only a minority of Ethiopian water sector actors is willing to consider the high
downstream water demands as a constraint to upstream water abstraction.
Far-reaching transboundary cooperation scenarios, though recognized as
potentially most beneficial, are not prioritized by a majority of Ethiopian
water sector actors, partly due to the high uncertainties attached. The emphasis
on de jure water re-allocation, therefore, remains omnipresent in the
Ethiopian discourse on Nile Basin cooperation.
The rift between proponents of a ‘legal issues first’ position and advocates
of extensive transboundary cooperation runs right across the agencies
involved in the Nile Basin negotiations. Generally, however, MoWR representatives
tend to value joint (infrastructure) projects higher than gains on
the legal and institutional front, while representatives of the MoFA typically
are among the fiercest defenders of Ethiopia’s claim for a higher de jure
water abstraction quota.
Conservation, irrigation, hydropower, and large dams
This study cannot comprehensively evaluate different domestic water development
options with regard to their potential overall costs and benefits (but
see ECWP 2005; ERHA 2005; and NBI WRPM 2006 for an assessment
of current policies). The way in which the different policy options are evaluated
and prioritized by the domestic actor groups themselves, however, is of
critical importance for this analysis. The domestic discourses regarding the
following issues are of particular relevance to transboundary cooperation:
• The relative utility of enhancing the country’s water storage capacity
through large-scale infrastructure projects vs. conservation and rehabilitation
of watersheds, rainwater harvesting, and small-scale irrigation
development;
• The importance of achieving food self-sufficiency (at household or
national level) vs. ensuring food security by other means, e.g., through
economic diversification and food imports (‘virtual water’ trade, see
Allan 2003);
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