Panel Stresses Crucial Role of CSOs in Protecting GERD from Siltation   

Addis Ababa, May 30, 2025 (ENA)—A panel on the role of civil society organizations (CSOs) for integrated Abay River basin development has stressed the critical role of the organizations for integrated upstream watershed development in order to protect the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam from siltation. 

Opening the panel today, Aregawi Berhe, Director-General of the Office of the National Council for the Coordination of Public Participation to the Construction of GERD, stressed the importance of strengthening integrated basin development activities to ensure the continuity of the dam.

 Underscoring the responsibility of all to prevent GERD from siltation, he said an integrated approach would play a crucial role in upstream areas of watershed management and development.

 

 The director-general further pointed out that integrated watershed development and management on upstream areas of GERD would elongate the lifespan of the dam and reduce land degradation and enhance water conservation.

According to him, civil society organizations have immense potential for achieving this initiative if they properly integrate their efforts in a coordinated manner and work in collaboration with the government.

 On his part, Addis Ababa University Water and Land Resource Center Director-General Gete Zeleke  said huge sediment will go down the stream and affect the sustainable power generation of the dam if we do not properly manage the upstream catchment areas of the GERD.

 The integrated upstream watershed management and development would enable to have more and clean water in the dam, thereby reducing land degradation and enhancing environmental conservation and productivity, he added.

 

 The director-general also emphasized the critical role of civil society organizations in fostering integrated watershed development in Abay river basins of the upstream areas of the GERD.

 If CSOs are involved in a Green Legacy Initiative, they need to make sure that their selected watershed be part of the integrated watershed management plan, their plantations are linked to community and ecosystem needs, and protection of remnant natural forests and trees are part of their green legacy initiative, Gete elaborated.