In order to become the powerhouse of Africa, Ethiopia is actively exploiting its water resources by building dams, reservoirs, irrigation and diversion canals and hydropower stations.
The following sections describe the impacts of the dams in more detail as objectively as possible, in order to provide a basis for such an assessment by the reader.
And neighboring countries, in particularly Egypt, see their historical water rights affected and threaten to take action against the dams.
The almost exclusive reliance on hydropower makes electricity generation vulnerable to droughts, which may be exacerbated by climate change.
There were a total of 16 recorded earthquakes of magnitude 6.5 and higher in Ethiopia's seismic active areas in the 20th century.
[3] Last but not least, the dams are built in an environment of poor governance: Most contracts have been awarded without competitive bidding, raising the suspicion of corruption.
The above concerns have hampered access to financing from international financial institutions, slowing down the dam building program.
These subsidies have a high opportunity cost, since the scarce government funds are not available for other investments in education, health, agriculture or forestry.
The Gibe II dam has been affected by such problems even after its completion, when a tunnel collapsed and put the hydropower plant out of service for several months.
Since most dams are to be built in narrow valleys, the areas to be inundated are not as large as, for example, in the case of Lake Nasser in Egypt.
[5] Ethiopia's rivers carry a high silt content, due to heavy erosion which is accelerated by deforestation and inappropriate agricultural practices on steep mountain slopes.
The three countries did however sign the Declaration of Principles in 2015 which makes no reference to historical treaties and encourages cooperation and equitable use of Nile waters.
Assuming an evaporation rate of 1 meter per year, an irrigated area of 200,000 hectares and a combined reservoir area of 1,000 km2, the flow of the Nile could be reduced by 3 billion cubic meters per year, equivalent to about 5 percent of the current allocation of Egypt under the 1959 agreement.
Contracts to build the first dams in Ethiopia constructed under the government of Meles Zenawi, who came to power in 1991, have been awarded after competitive bidding.
Because of this political climate, no groups are actively pursuing the issues surrounding hydropower dams, nor publicly raising concerns about the risks.