Ethiopian president Mulatu Teshome has warned countries sharing the River Nile of the tough times ahead as urbanisation and populations rapidly grow, hence putting enormous pressure on the waters amid climate change.

Nile Basin cooperation is not an option and managing a common pooled resource is not an easy undertaking,” Dr Teshome said.
He added: “We should be having a basin-wide planning perspective to synergise and make good use of water when it is getting scarcer per-capita.”
Projections indicate that demand for energy, food and freshwater will increase significantly over the next decades under the pressure of, among others, population growth, economic development and other factors. Currently, agriculture uses 80 per cent of the Nile waters.

Related articles:

http://e360.yale.edu/features/on_the_river_nile_a_move_to_avert_a_conflict_over_water

http://origins.osu.edu/article/who-owns-nile-egypt-sudan-and-ethiopia-s-history-changing-dam