Photos taken by satellite show that the area of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam Lake has doubled five times after the completion of the first filling. Al Jazeera TV said, in urgent news, that the photos are the most recent for this area after the rainy season started. Earlier Monday, a spokesman for the Egyptian Ministry of Irrigation, Mohamed el-Sebaei, confirmed that the negotiations of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam would be completed today, after the Cairo, Addis Ababa and Khartoum proposals were collected. El-Sebaei said that the next four days would witness a “final decision” on the part of Cairo.

The current negotiations are underway between Egypt and Ethiopia to reach a consensus on the disputed points and prepare a report to be presented on August 28 to the president of South Africa, in his capacity as president of the African Union. A mini-African summit included: “Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, and South Africa, which ended with the continuation of negotiations under the umbrella of the African Union.” Despite the signing of a declaration of principles between Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia on the issue of the GERD in March 2015, which adopted negotiation as a way to reach an agreement between the three countries on the subject of the Nile water, the talks have not resulted in a deal.

It is noteworthy that Ethiopia began building the Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile since 2011, generating electricity, and Egypt fears its impact on its share of water, which exceeds 55 cubic metres annually.