ABSTRACT

Both Ethiopia and Sudan have plans to unilaterally develop the water resources of the Blue Nile for hydropower and irrigation.The extent to which these plans will actually be imple- mented is unclear. However, if both countries totally fulfil their stated objectives the following are estimated to occur:

the total reservoir storage in Ethiopia will increase from the current 11.6 to more than 167 billion cubic metres (i.e. more than 3 times the mean annual flow at the Ethiopia–Sudan border);

large-scale irrigation withdrawals in Sudan will increase from the current 8.5 to 13.8 billion m3 yr–1;

large-scale irrigation withdrawals in Ethiopia will increase from the current 0.26 to 3.8 billion m3 yr–1; and

electricity generation in Ethiopia will increase from the current 1383 to 31,297 gigawatt hours (GWh) yr–1.