ENG 2002_2020_S2Sundar Raila1120493PART 1Ethiopia started construction of dam in 2011 on Blue Nile River which is 60km of Sudaneseborder which will hold 74 billion cubic liters of water and storage capacity of about 60 billioncubic meters. The hydropower dam is estimated to produce 6000MW and will cost around 4billion dollars. The Ethiopian governments recommended that around 100 million people willbe benefitted with the electricity produced from the damn. The Ethiopian governmentplanned to sell the electricity to neighboring nations, provide irrigation to Ethiopian farmersto uplift them from poverty. Once the damn gets operated, it will act as the power hub in theAfrica and biggest producer of electricity.After construction of this dam, it will help downstream countries as well in various ways. Itwill help to remove silt and sedimentation, also regulates the water flow throughout the year.This hydropower project will triple the current electricity supply of Ethiopia. The powergenerated from this project will also be distributed to other African countries which will helpto uplift Ethiopia’s economic standard.Social ImpactThe construction of this huge dam will severely impact the social life negative or positive forthe people living around it. The Ethiopian government has to resettle heaps of people livingin the area. Also, lot of fertile land in the area will be underwater which will severely impactthe agricultural production rate of the area. Also, there will be increase in parasitic diseasedue to the ecological changes.Environmental ImpactThe building of this dam makes a major change in the environmental cycle of this area. It willalter the river hydrology, amount of nutrients concentration, lifecycles of species that aredependable to fresh water. The reduction in the water flow will increase the pollutants in thewater, it will also lower the ground water level, it will also make water unusable for drinkingand irrigation purposes. Also, the decomposed organic matter drowned in the reservoir canemit huge amounts of methane gas and also helps promote leaching of toxic metals from theflooded minerals and stones and rocks in the reservoir. The crucial sediments for thedownstream ecosystems will be trapped in the dam which will affect the normal function ofwetlands and lagoons. This will cause the serious consequences for agriculture andlivelihoods majorly in Egypt.To overcome this impact, Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt should collectively find the solution forthis environmental impact. Constant flow from the dam will somehow help to mitigate thisissue as there will be constant water in the river in dry and wet season. In the wet season, theflooding from after dam area will help to increase the flow which help to wash all the dirtywater, sediments etc. and water can be stored in the bottom dams. In the dam itself, Ethiopiacan treat the reservoir as a marine reserve and habitat heaps of aquatic species.
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