Abay Council, Authority to Be Established for Project Monitoring

The Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR) is planning to establish an Abay (Nile) Basin Council and Abay Basin Authority meant for organizing and monitoring projects pertinent to the River Nile.

The draft laws for the establishment of the two organizations to be led by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and Deputy Prime Minister, Addisu Legesse, were submitted to the Council of Ministers last month. However, a decision has yet to be reached.

The proposal for the establishment of the Authority and the Council will be submitted to the Parliament for further scrutiny and is expected to be approved by September 2007, sources told Fortune.

The French government awarded 1.4 million Euros to the study for the establishment of the two entities, being carried out by BRL, DHB and T&A consultant firms from France, Netherlands and Ethiopia respectively.

The founding of the Council and Authority is part of an effort to enable each of the 12 basins administer themselves in accordance to the Ethiopian Water Resources Administration Policy; seven to eight authorities are expected to be established throughout the country.

Out of the total basins in Ethiopia, the Ogaden Denakel and Aysha basins will not be a part of the strategy as they are dry ones.

The sole basin authority in the country, Awash Basin Authority was established in October 2005, making its headquarter in the town Amibara in the Afar regional state.

The Abay Basin Council, embraces seven ministries as well as presidents of the Oromiya, Amhara and Benishangul Regional states. Considerable attention is being given to the Council's founding due to the sensitivity surrounding the River Nile and its 10 adjoining countries, officials from MoWR told Fortune.

A Director General that will lead the Authority has not yet been assigned. Sources told Fortune that Minister of Water Resources, Asfaw Dingamo, would select a candidate.

The Nile Basin has an irrigation capacity of 2.5 million hectares of which 1.7 million could be developed in its vicinity. The remaining 800,000 hectares could be irrigated through channeling the water into the Awash River. Moreover, the River Nile is also believed to have the capacity of generating from 45,000 to 75,000 GW electric power energy.

The Head of the Abay Basin Council and Authority Founding Project, Fekahmed Negash, told Fortune that the establishment of the two entities would help strengthen the progress of different projects already taking place around the Nile, not to mention bringing all the dispersed Abay ventures under one common administrative body. The countless projects that are taken place on the Abay River, include, the Tana Beles Electric Power Dam Project owned by the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) and overseen by Salini Construction; Abay Hydroelectric Generating Power Plant I and II also owned by EEPCo and the five irrigation and Water Balancing Dam projects owned by Ministry Water Resources.

He said that the Authority will be accountable to the Council and the Ministry, and will receive remuneration from both the government and those projects that are currently taking place. In addition to these funds, the Authority will also handle the funds that are allocated to Ethiopia from international organizations, said Fekahmed.

Sources from MoWR also told Fortune that member countries of the Nile Basin Initiative have provided all the necessary assistance for the establishment of the centers.

Of the accumulated Ethiopian water resources, 80 to 90pc are found in the north western and southern part of the country.