BY SAMUEL TEFERA ALEMU (Ph.D)
Iam not proposing this out of impulse and no reason. Scientific studies justify the role of interbasin water transfer as a sound water management strategy.
It facilitates socioeconomic development by supplying water in water deficient areas. Such developments mainly target achieving economic gains from improved irrigation based agricultural production and generation of hydroelectric power.
Globally there are notable projects including the Colorado Big Thompson project on Colorado river; the Aral seas basin project; the Tagus-Segura-Ebro basins project in Spain; China’s South-to-North transfer on Yangtze, Yellow and Hanjiang rivers; and the Sao Francisco interlinking project in Brazil that uplifted countries involved in the project and promoted equitable and fair utilization of water resources in a cooperative manner.
Many countries transformed their economies and ensured food security mainly through revolutionizing their agricultural sector by expanding irrigation schemes to where available land is through inter basin and interstate water transfers.
Interbasin transfers in Iraq, Australia, India, the United States, Canda, China and Israel contributed immensely to sustained developments in the countries. The hydroelectric power development in Canada and the green agricultural revolution in India are good examples worth mentioning.
In Africa, most interbasin transfers help supply drinking water to big cities. In Morocco the Oum Er-Rbia River supplies Casablanca with water. Similarly, the tributaries of Ichkeul lake in Tunisia ensure supply of water in Tunis while Lesotho highlands transboundary water project supplies water to Gauteng in South.
Egypt, through much criticised projects, on its part has for long been diverting water of the Nile to develop huge tracts of land for commercial agriculture.
These politically motivated projects are largely owned and operated by private and state companies of Gulf countries to grow water consuming food and forage crops.
Contrary to the initial project objectives to meet food security demands of citizens, the projects export the crops along with free of fee virtual water to the Middle East States.
The Toshka (the New Valley) project in western part of Egypt, for instance, pumps out water from lake Nasser to irrigate the sandy desert plains of the Sahara Desert.
The project aimed at settling nearly a quarter of the then population of Egypt and curb unemployment through agricultural industrialization. It, however, failed to meet its intended target mainly due to underground aquifers presence, high levels of salinity and challenges from clay soils affecting the operation of farm machinery in the fields.
Inter basin and interstate transfer of water ensures equality of right over access to water and appropriate distribution of water among the states involved in the basin.
So why can’t we imagine interbasin transfer of water in Ethiopia? Out of the twelve major river basins in Ethiopia, the highest potential exists in the west where Abbay, Tekeze and Baro basins are and potentially irrigable land to the east.
An interbasin transfer into the rift valley system, therefore, would make great economic sense for a country whose lowlands are often vulnerable to recurrent droughts and devastating floods.
In this regard, the Baro Akobo basin’s estimated potential of about 23 BCM can supply water to the Awash basin that has little over 4.5 BCM. Adeba et al (2016) in their study suggested a potential transfer of 116 MCM of water per year from Baro Akobo to the Awash basin.
This will drive agro processing industries in the Awash valley and encourage pastoral and agro pastoral communities’ investment in livestock trading.
Environmentally and economically feasible interbasin transfers between the two river basins will help avoid flood disasters and when the topographic conditions of the transfer routes allow, possibilities of producing hydroelectric power along the route will contribute to increased economic activities through uninterrupted and reliable energy supply to livestock-based industries.
This creates opportunities to address scarcity of water and thereby increase agricultural and agro pastoral land productivity in the Central Rift Valley plains including attracting commercial agricultural investments and associated employment opportunities in the fisheries sector.
Considerations into interbasin transfer of River Abbay and other major rivers should be integrated into the future of water project planning in Ethiopia.
The GERD and similar other upcoming projects shall be linked with irrigation projects alongside the purpose of generation of power for Ethiopia to leapfrog and lift its people and the people in the basin out of poverty. The question whether an interbasin transfer of Abbay River is a possibility or a fantasy project shall be left for time to answer.
The completion of the GERD should herald the beginning of fantasizing grand interbasin projects that create cross regional development and peace corridors in Ethiopia.
The new Abbay order shall help Ethiopia emerge as a strategic regional economic and political hub and our foreign relations should be founded on sharing the fruits of our success with our neighbours. This can only come true through the collective and cooperative engagement of Ethiopians at home and in the diaspora.
Ed.’s note: Samuel Tefera Alemu (Ph.D) is an Assistant Professor at the Center for African and Asian Studies, College of Social Sciences, Addis Ababa University. He is reachable through: samuel.tefera@aau.edu.et
The Ethiopian Herald March 23/2021
