2020 International Conference on the Nile and Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam: Science, Conflict Resolution and Cooperation

The International Conference on the Nile and Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD): Science, Conflict Resolution and Cooperation will have seven major thematic areas:

1. THE NILE: PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE PERSPECTIVES

• Basin Climate, Hydrology and Historical Flows
• History of Nile Water Right Claims: Pre-colonial, Colonial and Post-colonial Era
• The Nile Basin Initiative and Cooperative Framework Agreement
• Dams and Water Control Structures on the Nile
• Socio-economic Growth, Water Share and Water Rights in the Nile Basin

2. INTERNATIONAL TRANSBOUNDARY BASINS COOPERATION

• Transboundary Basins and Cooperation Management
• Transboundary River Sharing Agreements and Conflict Resolution Methods
• Hydropolitics of Transboundary Rivers and Aquifers
• Water Security and Accessibility

3. BLUE NILE/ABBAY AND GRAND ETHIOPIAN RENAISSANCE DAM

• Water Resources Potential of Nile tributaries from Ethiopia (Blue Nile, Baro-Akobo and Tekeze)
• Mountain Hydrology and the Role of Productive Watersahed Management
• Current and Future Irrigation and Agricultural Production
• Process and Historical Significance of the GERD
• GERD Filling and GERD Operation for Optimal Power Generation
• Integrating Eastern Nile Water Management and GERD Operation
• Dialogues Between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt on GERD Filling and Operation

4. NILE WATER SUPPLY AND DEMAND MANAGEMENT

• Nile Water Use in Egypt and Sudan
• Water Saving and Smart Agriculture in the Nile Basin
• Virtual Water Trade
• Energy, Water and Food Nexus in the Nile Basin
• Groundwater and Alternaive Water Sources

5. EXTREME HYDROLOGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE 

• Droughts and Floods
• Climate Change Impacts
• Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Efforts in the Nile Basin
• Desertification and Livelihood in the Nile

6. LAND AND WATER DEGRADATION AND WATERSHED MANAGEMENT

• Land Use/Land Cover Change 
• Soil Loss and Watershed Management
• Population Dynamics and Land Degradation
• Water Pollution and Health
• Lesson Learned from Ethiopia’s Fifty Years of Soil Conservation
• Land Tenure and Water Management Policy

7. EMERGING THREATS OF THE LAKE REGIONS IN THE NILE BASIN

• Equatorial Lakes Management Experience and Threats
• Lake Tana Water Level Management
• Agriculture in Lake Tana Basin and Watershed Management
• Lake Tana Sedimentation, Water Quality and Aquatic Weeds

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

• Assefa Melesse, Chair
• Wossenu Abtew, Co-Chair
• Semu Ayalew Moges, Co-Chair
• Candice Allouch, Zoom/IT Lead

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE

• Wossenu Abtew, Chair, Technical Program and Publications
• Semu Ayalew Moges, Chair, Communications and Outreach
• Xixi Wang, Old Dominion University
• Tammo Steenhuis, College of Agriculture and Life Science (CALS), Cornell University
• Seifu Admasu, Bahir Dar Institute of Technology, Bahir Dar University
• Dagnachew Aklog, Blue Nile Water Institute, Bahir Dar University
• Ann van Griensven, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium
• Esayas G.yohannes, Addis Ababa Institute of Technology (AAIT), Addis Ababa University

ADVISORY COMMITTEE

• Elfatih A. B. Eltahir, MIT
• Abdulkarim Seid, Nile Basin Initiative
• Maria Donoso, UNESCO-FIU Chair on Sustainable Water Security, FIU Institute of Environment