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View From Arada  

“Water is life,” Gabi, a hydrologist by profession and an MSC graduate from India, told his students, who seemed to be uninterested in the subject. They had listened to such futile lectures time and again. “Water means life. Be it for domestic use, for hydropower generation, for harvesting fish or for agricultural irrigation. In short, water is a great preserver of life.

Quietly Flows the Nile

 

As a member of an envoy representing the Ministry of Information, I once had the opportunity to visit Tehartown, the capital where the White and the Blue Nile confluence. We toured some distance along the River Nile on a ferryboat and were able to see two rivers flow together in one course, each without losing its identity. I noticed that our Abay (Ghion) - or the Blue Nile as it is known - is not blue at all. In fact, I could see a brownish-white water body superimposed on the White Nile and flowing down stream.
 

It was not difficult to recognize that the Blue Nile was transporting a luggage of fertile soil which the down stream countries have possibly made good use of for thousands of years before they built massive dams and started complaining abut too much silt from Ethiopia. Although the confluence site was scenic, I did not feel nostalgic while seeing my country's river thousands of kilometres away in a foreign land.
 

Actually, I felt ashamed, albeit for a short time, to be a part of an era of people who talk, regret and relay the problem of famine and drought from one generation to the next, while the Blue Nile and the other transboundary rivers flow unperturbed by the numerous conferences, discussions, vows and pledges.
 

Talking of conferences on water, I recall an interesting anecdote mentioned during the 5th Nile 2002 Conference held from Feb 24-27, here in one the UNECA Conference Halls. Close to 300 participants from the riparian countries took part; they were drawn from financial agencies and international water related institutions from all over the world. At one session, while the Ethiopian envoy was presenting its case and emphasizing the country's perennial shortage of water, and hence of power, the electric light went off for a couple of seconds. Like a cheer master, I was the first to seize the opportunity (and the microphone I should add) and crack a joke, saying: " the facts speak for themselves." I could see that the message I tried to convey was not wasted. Many of the participants promptly cheered. My role as cheer leader was accomplished, I believe.
 

That series of Nile 2002 Conferences have been over for some time and have been replaced by yet another series of conferences which seem much closer to taking initiatives - through the cooperation between riparian countries - towards equitably utilizing the water of the Nile basin.


We are gripped by the overwhelming problem of a shortage of water. The Addis Abeba Water and Sewerage Authority seems to be forced into providing water for the city using a rotational system. The Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPC), which generates much of its power from water, similarly has implemented a strategy of water rationing throughout the country. For a rain-fed agrarian country like Ethiopia, adequate and timely rainfall is a crucial, basic requirement for survival.
 

"Water is life," Gabi, a hydrologist by profession and an MSC graduate from India, told his students, who seemed to be uninterested in the subject. They had listened to such futile lectures time and again. "Water means life. Be it for domestic use, for hydropower generation, for harvesting fish or for agricultural irrigation. In short, water is a great preserver of life."
 

This information was more than one student, Abdosh, could possibly bear. "Water is also a killer if you don't mind my interruption," he quipped.  Abdosh had recently transferred from Dire Dawa. He had a point to his argument. 'Two years ago, as you all know, River Dechatu overflowed, flooding a large sector of the city, and sweeping hundreds of people away. The present cyclone, which was followed by floods, has claimed thousands of lives, to mention but a few examples of water fatalities." Abdosh had not missed the point of the lecture, but what he wanted to highlight was the fact that water also causes danger, and even death.
 

This year, the much needed rains seem to remain locked up in the sky. Could this be the reason for rationing? Undoubtedly, there is currently a shortage of water, although one finds it very difficult to attribute this shortage to the belated season of light showers that are said to be augmenting the overall supply of only 10-15 per cent. This raises the basic question of how much water is enough to cater for all of our needs.
 

I posed a question to Gabi: "How much water is enough for our country?"  He did not answer me directly, explaining that there are certain basic issues to look at before trying to quantify our requirement. "The population growth and the change in the life styles of urban people are matters not to be ignored. Irrigation agriculture, particularly in the field of horticulture, is increasing at an accelerated rate.
 

"The change in climate is also a factor one cannot ignore as it affects the volume of supply which is said to be not more than 110 billion cubic metres of annual fresh water replenishment," Gabi went on, bringing in specifics about the demand of water for domestic use, agriculture and power production. These needs keep on growing and as the population grows, water consumption increases.
 

The obvious shortage is just one issue, misuse and abuse of water is another. Effective planning and management of the available supply of water is very crucial. In line with this, the disposal of polluted water, a great health hazard, is also a concern that requires serious consideration if we have to protect the environment.
 

There are many arguments for and against the use of water for manufacturing purposes, for example, the huge volumes of water needed to come up with products like bottled or draft beer. People query the wisdom of brewing alcoholic beverages when the supply of potable water is at its lowest ebb. This argument definitely bears substance, but one also has to think about the fate of the workers who earn a livelihood from such factories.
 

So there must be some sort of balance, a trade-off as it were. Many factories are presently operating below capacity due to the frequent power interruptions to the set schedule. This costs the factories not only in terms of production, but also financially as workers have to be paid for the extra hours worked as over-time in order to make up for the lost time.

 

The flower mills have raised their tariffs. There is much talk about the rising cost of living, particularly of food. Some government officials have resigned as a result of social unrest and popular protests. The price of oil has reached an all time high. Could this possible be the last straw to break the water's back?
 

We ultimately depend on water for our survival. These problems that we have emphatically vowed to resolve time and time again still rage on, and yet the Nile flows quietly on.

 

 

BY Girma Feyissa

 
 
 
 
   
 
 
 

 

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