The egypt-sudan permanent joint technical commission for nile water

Abstract

Concern for preserving the historic rights of Egypt to certain minimum discharges of the Nile River was the subject of an exchange of diplomatic notes in 1924-25 between the Government of Egypt and the Government of Great Britain. The exchange was prompted by the proposed development of a large irrigation scheme in the Sudan in the Gezira region south of Khartoum. As a result, a three-man Nile Commission was appointed "for the purpose of examining and proposing the basis on which irrigation can be carried out (in the Sudan) with full consideration of the interests of Egypt and without detriment to her natural and historic rights". As a result of the Commission's report a Nile Water Agreement 1929 was signed by Egypt and the Sudan. When the decision was made to build the High Dam at Aswan, and because the reservoir would extend across the Egypt-Sudan border covering most of the ancient land of Nubia in both countries, an additional agreement "for the full utilization of the Nile waters" was negotiated and signed in 1959. The contenttscope and implications of these agreements and the current status of works under the 1959 agreement is discussed in this paper. © 1979, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.