The Nile River Basin – The Nile River Basin – in search of a new water regime?in search of a new water regime?

Ana Elisa Cascão

Center of African Studies – IUL [ISCTE/IUL]Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI)

Com

plexity

Com

plexity

Challenges

Challenges

The Nile River BasinThe Nile River Basin

Socio-Economic Socio-Economic and Political Changesand Political Changes• Economic growth• More political ‘stability’• Urbanisation• Increasing of middle-class (more demands,

new habits)

• Increasing demands for food• Expansion of agriculture• ‘Land-grabbing’

• Increasing demands for energy• New hydropower projects

• Increasing withdraw of water resources (surface and groundwaters waters)

• Decrease in the water levels – see Lake Victoria, Lake Tana

• Governments: more political and financial capital to ‘ build’ projects

Environmental Environmental changes – what are they?changes – what are they?• Nile flows are uneven• ‘Normal’ environmental changes

• Region with history of extreme climatic events - droughts and floods

• Climate change predictions

• Nile Basin: ‘water scarcity’ or ‘water abundance’?

Timelime of extreme eventsTimelime of extreme events

Droughts in the 1980s in

Ethiopia and Sudan

Historic low levels of Lake Nasser in Egypt at the end

of 1980s

Mid-1990s: massive floods in

Ethiopia and Sudan

• Sea-level rise• Soil salinity• Desertification• Floods• Deforestation• Sedimentation• Wetlands conservation• Droughts• Drop in lake levels /

Floods• Water hyacinth

Environmental challengesEnvironmental challenges

CapacityCapacity to deal with current andto deal with current andfuture challengesfuture challenges

WHAT WHAT LEVEL?WHAT WHAT LEVEL?

• Local• National/State

• Sub-basin institutions• Basin Commissions

• Overlap of responsibilities and solutions?

Existing regional/basin institutionsExisting regional/basin institutions

• 1986: The Intergovernmental Authority on Dorught and Development (IGADD) IGAD

• 1999: Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) + ENSAP (Eastern Nile) + NELSAP (Nile Equatorial region)

• 2001: Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LBVC)2001: Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LBVC)

NBI – How to meet the socio-economic and NBI – How to meet the socio-economic and environmental challenges in the Nile?environmental challenges in the Nile?

since 1999 1997-2007 ?

NBI – Shared VisionNBI – Shared Vision

Cooperation in Action (I)Cooperation in Action (I)

Cooperation in Action (II)Cooperation in Action (II)

• General Principles• Rights and Obligations Equitable and reasonable utilizationObligation not to cause significant harmProtection and conservation of the Nile River

Basin and its ecosystemsRegular exchange of data and informationInformation concerning planned measuresEnvironmental impact assessment and audits

Subsidiarity in the development and protection of the Nile River Basin

Prevention and mitigation of harmful conditionsEmergency Situations

• Institutional Structure• Settlement of Disputes

CFA – Institutional and Legal FrameworkCFA – Institutional and Legal Framework

Thanks!Thanks!ana.cascao@siwi.org