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Damming The Mekong: Fish-Friendly?
September 17th, 2013
Via The Economist, a look at the controversy over the Xayaburi dam: ALONG the banks of the Mekong in Laos, the forest has been stripped and the mountainside gouged out. Construction of the Xayaburi dam, the first on the lower Mekong, is in full swing. The dam, which will cost $3.5 billion, is being built […]
Read more »Nile Water Dispute Stymies Egypt Reset with African Union
September 15th, 2013
Via Al-Monitor, a look at the tension over the Nile River: Egypt is still facing multiple hurdles in managing its diplomatic relations and national security interests with other African nations, particularly those of the Nile basin. This is despite the new Egyptian political administration showing capacity to bolster relations with countries of the African continent. […]
Read more »Water Politics On The Nile
August 31st, 2013
Via the Orange County Register, commentary on the Nile water rift: Egypt’s sense of nationhood is tied up in control of the Nile. So is energy self sufficiency for Ethiopia. The clash between these two realities can have deadly consequences. America will be tempted to intervene – on the wrong side. The issue is a […]
Read more »A Grand Dam That Felled Morsi: The Ecological Roots Of Egypt’s Current Strife
August 29th, 2013
Via Down To Earth, an interesting look at the ecological/water roots of Egypt’s current strife: The bloodletting in Egypt, which was triggered by the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi on July 3, has foreshadowed its deeper ecological roots. Egypt cannot get past its present turmoil, at least in the long run, without spotlighting and comprehending […]
Read more »Rush for Nile Water – Now Uganda Plans Massive Hydroelectric Site
August 18th, 2013
Via OilPrice.com, a report that Uganda is also looking to capitalize on the Nile’s water: In East Africa, the major water resource is the Nile river, the world’s longest, at 4,130 miles, referred to by Egypt since antiquity as the country’s heart. The past several decades have seen the mighty river’s water flow increasingly contested […]
Read more »Ethiopia’s Plan to Dam the Nile Has Egypt Fuming
July 2nd, 2013
Via Time Magazine, a summary of the Ethiopia-Egypt tensions over the Nile: The heat is stifling but the construction workers and red-hatted engineers don’t let up. Mechanized excavators batter into the mighty, arid peaks on either side of the site of Ethiopia’s Grand Renaissance dam, set to be the largest in Africa. The foundations are […]
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