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Chemp Carpenter

Abstract/Description

As fresh water is required for human survival, access to water resources greatly benefits human societies. Over the last 50 years, there has been an increase in dam construction around the world. Dams are built to store water and regulate a river's flow, as well as to raise the water level upstream to facilitate flow into a channel. Furthermore, they offer numerous benefits, including controlling floods, improving irrigation, acting as storage, being a water supplier, and generating electricity. Nonetheless, dams also pose serious hazards. Ethiopia began construction on a 6000-megawatt dam called The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in 2011, along the Blue Nile. Once this project is complete, it will be the largest hydropower dam in Africa. The project has caused tension between Ethiopia and the surrounding riparian countries, primarily Egypt, which depend on the Blue Nile as their main water resource. This project aimed to understand the significance of the Nile River, what the GERD project is, how the dam is structured, the benefits and controversies of the GERD, the possible impacts of GERD failure, and what could be potentially better alternatives to the GERD.

Note on the Author

Chemp Carpenter (they/them) is a senior majoring in Anthropology along with minoring in Middle Eastern and North African Studies. This research project was completed throughout the fall semester under the mentorship of Dr. Madhu Rao in the Geography Department and Chemp was able to present their studies at the 2023 Mid-Year Symposium. Chemp's goal is to attain their Master's and Ph.D. in the fields of archaeology and anthropology after working for a few years in the related fields.

Rights Statement

Articles published in The Undergraduate Review are the property of the individual contributors and may not be reprinted, reformatted, repurposed or duplicated, without the contributor’s consent.

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