| Large dams


While agricultural uses dominate both basins, there is extensive hydropower generation (more is being developed in the Nile), growing municipal needs, and major environmental concerns. Extensive gauging has been carried out on both rivers since 1900 and almost all water is completely used in both basins – hardly any makes it to the sea in Colorado and the Nile just has water to help push out salinity. The challenges of uneven development mean that although California was developed first on the Colorado, more abstraction is desired and planned for the upper basin in New Mexico, Wyoming and Utah. On the Nile, Egypt and Sudan were developed first but again more abstraction is desired and planned for the upper basin in Ethiopia, South Sudan, Kenya and Rwanda. Difficulties arise when water resources are already fully utilised and so the focus needs to be more on the reallocation of resources. The presentation gave an economy-wide assessment of the impacts of major water infrastructure development in the Colorado and Nile basins on local, national and regional economic growth. The full event can be viewed at www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/ events/economic-impact-of-large-dams


Dams built on The Nile Aswan Dam


High Aswan Dam Sennar Dam


Jebel Aulia Dam Kasham El Giba Rosaries Dam Merowe dam


Upper Albora/Sefit Tezeke Dam Tana Beles HP


Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam


Above: The Aswan Dam on the Nile, Egypt


1902


1960-70 1925 1937 1964 1967 2009 2015 2009 2009


under development


Dams built on the Colorado River Hoover Dam


Glen Canyon Dam


1935-38 1964-74


Reference


The Economic Impacts Of Large Dams: A Comparative Analysis of the Nile and Colorado Rivers with Ken Strzepek, Kevin Wheeler and Jim Hall. 06 June 2022.


Left: Aerial Landscape around the Merowe Dam in northern Sudan on the Nile


www.waterpowermagazine.com | May 2023 | 35


Ethiopia


Sudan


Egypt


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