Nile and Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam : Past, Present and Future

This book is a contribution by the presenters of the 2020 International Conference on the Nile and Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). The Nile basin is facing unprecedented level of water right challenges after the construction of GERD has begun. Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan have struggled to narrow their differences on filling and operation of the GERD. The need for science and data-based discussion for a lasting solution is crucial. Historical perspectives, water rights, agreements, failed negotiations, and other topics related to the Nile is covered in this book. The book covers Nile water claims past and present, international transboundary basin cooperation and water sharing, Nile water supply and demand management, Blue Nile/Abbay and Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, land and water degradation and watershed management, emerging threats of the Lakes Region in the Nile Basin, and hydrologic variation and monitoring. This book is beneficial for students, researchers, sociologists, engineers, policy makers, lawyers, water resources and environmental managers and for the people and governments of the Nile Basin.

Dr. Assefa M. Melesse is Professor of Water Resources Engineering with background in remote sensing and geospatial applications to hydrological modeling. He earned his M.E. (2000) and Ph.D. (2002) from the University of Florida in Agricultural Engineering with two concentrations (Hydrological Sciences and GIS)  and three minors (Civil Engineering, Environmental Engineering, and Remote sensing). His areas of research and experience include spatially distributed hydrologic modeling, ecohydrology, spatial surface water balance modeling, sediment transport, surface and groundwater interactions modeling, spatial evapotranspiration mapping using remote sensing, water–energy–carbon fluxes coupling and modeling, remote sensing hydrology, climate change impact modeling, river basin management, and land cover change detection and scaling. He has also worked on the application of artificial neural network and other statistical learning techniques to hydrology. He has vast experiences in the Nile River Basin and the Caribbean Islands. Dr. Melesse was a Fulbright Scholar in Ethiopia in 2012. He is Author and Editor of 6 books and over 450 publications including journal articles, books, book chapters, conference proceedings, and conference presentations. Dr. Melesse is Registered Professional Engineer (PE) and also Diplomate of Water Resources Engineer (D. WRE) with over 30 years of teaching and research experience. Dr. Melesse has served as Advisor/Co-advisor for over 60 graduate students.

Dr. Wossenu Abtew is Professional Civil Engineer and Certified Water Resources Engineer with over 30 years of experience in water resources related areas including water management, hydrologic system analysis, statistical hydrology, constructed wetlands design and operation, environmental restoration, transboundary rivers, the Nile River Basin, dam sizing and operation, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), best management agricultural practices, landscapedynamics and environmental restoration, water quality, and sediment sampling. He is currently Principal Civil Engineer with Water and Environment Consulting, LLC. He is also Affiliated Faculty in the Department of Earth and Environment at Florida International University. He has authored and edited six books on hydrology, Nile Basin, GERD, and other.

Dr. Semu Moges is Academic and Professional Civil Engineer with over 20 years of experience in education, research, and consultancy in water, environment, energy, climate change, sustainable development, and water–energy–food nexus modeling and understanding. He is currently working as Independent Consultant with different international and local companies. He is also affiliated with the University of Connecticut (UCONN) in USA. He was previously Faculty of Arba Minch and Addis Ababa Universities in Ethiopia. He has also taught in several African Universities including Pan African University. He authored and co-authored several water journals articles and hapters on the water, climate, and transboundary rivers systems especially Nile Basin.