Kenya fishermen say they are squeezed by Ethiopian mega-dam

Nasdaq ^ | 07/20/2020 | Baz Ratner

[BenLurkin]

Fishermen on the shores of Kenya's Lake Turkana, the world's biggest desert lake, have no doubt about what is to blame for their dwindling fish stocks: a giant hydroelectric dam built by Ethiopia on the River Omo, which feeds the lake.

Complaints about the Omo dam have been overshadowed by another major water dispute, between Ethiopia and Egypt. Ethiopia is building the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile, which Cairo says will strangle its lifeline, the Nile.

The government in Addis Ababa has said it needs the mega-dams to generate enough electricity for its population of 109 million, only about a third of whom have access to power.

But people who live around Lake Turkana, Kenya's poorest region, say the power from Gibe 3 - which is nearly 250 meters high - is produced at their expense. Around 90% of Lake Turkana's water comes from the Omo river.

Data from the Unites States Department of Agriculture shows the lake's water level dropped to 363 metres in 2016, when Gibe 3 opened, from 365 metres. Unseasonably heavy rains mean levels are back up, but fishermen fear that is only temporary.

[BenLurkin]

Is a two meter drop really that significant?

[rktman]

Maybe they can use the same team that bush used to blow up levees during Katrina.

[Bob434]

the left would tell them that riots and looting and burning everything in sight is the answer

[ConservativeInPA]

Oh well.

[Mastador1]

Let’s get Greta over there to advise the Ethiopians, she should tell them to stop the damn dam and go green with wind and solar.

[TnTnTn]

So the mega dam on the Blue Nile is needed to light mud huts and goat pens...??....I predict it will be a ecological, environmental, financial, and political disaster...but who cares...

[SunkenCiv]

• Egypt wishes for no UN sanctions against Ethiopia over GERD issue: Foreign Minister [Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam]

[BwanaNdege]

So the mega dam on the Blue Nile is needed to light mud huts and goat pens...??....I predict it will be a ecological, environmental, financial, and political disaster...but who cares...

Ethiopians need electricity as much as you or I do. Water for irrigation of crops is also a nice thing to have.

The Blue Nile joins the White Nile at Khartoum to create "The Nile" flowing north through Sudan and into Egypt.

The White Nile is formed in Uganda by the confluence of the Victoria Nile, from Lake Victoria, and Lake Albert. Egypt wants to claim all this water?

If Egypt needs more water, tell them to start using Drip Irrigation instead of claiming ownership of rainwater which falls on Ethiopian lands more than 800 air miles from Eqypt's southern border..

[Svartalfiar]

Is a two meter drop really that significant?

Two meters is six feet. that could be a decent drop based on normal conditions.
But per wikipedia, the lake is only 30m deep on average, 110m max. So a 2m drop in lake level is a good 7% drop, which is sizeable for a lot of fish habitats and whatnot.