The Blue Nile Issue A History Of Hydropolitics 1884-1974

The hydropolitics of the Blue Nile had an impact on developments affecting modernrnEthiopia. The issue has played a crucial role in the struggle between Ethiopia and the powersrnover the control of the lower basin, and was transformed in the nineteenth century. Therncentury witnessed Egypt’s vigorous attempt to secure the unimpeded flow of the Blue NilernRiver. This development became more acute and gained a new momentum when Europeanrnpowers developed an interest in the region and realized that both the economic survival ofrnEgypt and the prosperity of the Sudan were dependent on the good will of Ethiopia that hadrndirect jurisdiction over the source of the Blue Nile.rnThe main objective of the thesis is to show the dynamics of the hydropoltics of thernBlue Nile within the broad context of Ethiopian history. In the last quarter of the nineteenthrncentury, the Blue Nile was one of the main factors that led the British to violate the Adwa orrnHewett Treaty of 1884 and to promote the Italian colonial interest in Ethiopia up to 1896. Byrn1902, the British had ensured the unobstructed and continuous flow of the Blue Nile River. Inrnthe first half of the twentieth century, the British carried on protracted diplomatic negotiationsrnwith the Ethiopian government to secure a perennial water supply from the Blue Nile byrnconstructing a dam at the outlet of Lake Tãnã and turning the lake into a water reservoir. Evenrnthough the British diplomatic efforts were a fiasco, they had an impact on the history ofrnEthiopia and the major events of the period.rnIn the 1950s, Egypt’s decision to build the Aswan High Dam relegated all previousrnplans of developing the entire Nile Basin to insgnificance. The decision not only put the LakernTãnã Dam project to the side line but also brought the hydropolitics of the Nile into its vortex.rnSubsquently, Ethiopia called for the equitable and fair utilization of the waters of the Nile asrnvrnwell as planned to develop the Blue Nile Basin. This was the main factor behind Egypt’srnhostile policy towards Ethiopia until the 1960s.rnThis study argues that lack of far-sightedness particularly on the part of the powersrnintensified the Nile issue. The river could not be disconnected from national sentiment andrntreated as a common and shared natural resource among the riparian states. This is a majorrnimpediment to equitable and fair utilization of the waters of the Nile.

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