Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink. 

It was probably shouted out at sea, but it echoes one of our most primal needs, water.

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance dam is bidding to become the biggest hydro-electric dam in Africa, but nations downstream, notably Egypt and the Sudan, are worried. 

For millennia Egypt has relied on and built its economy around the Nile, such that to most of us, the Nile is synonymous with Egypt.

The river dumps millions of tons of sediment in the fertile Nile delta and it also feeds farms along its confluence. Of course they too have a big dam on the River, The Aswan. 

But Ethiopia is determined to fill the dam with or without some form of accord with affected nations, as it sees the dam as a critical part of its own economic revival. 

In China, the immense Three Gorges Dam with a wall height of 180 meters or 50 stories high, was built to attenuate annual flooding and to supply 22.5 GWh's of electricity. 

It is the biggest hydro scheme in the world, but huge questions are now being asked about its viability as a flood control intervention. 

It is a huge silt sink, and that silt was intended to supply downstream farms with vital soil and nutrients. 

But the sediment will also crowd out the water capacity of the Dam. The dam has also proved to be bad at flood control. 

Oh there have been rumors that it is badly built, I don't know about that. But I do know it is controversial and may have missed important ecological considerations. 

The demand for water is a universal issue for a thirsty planet and is becoming a strategic resource that will yet lead to disputes. 

Someone once suggested that the 3rd World War would be fought over water rights.  

Well I don't know about that either. All I do know is that from as far back as we can go, water was always a contentious issue. 

Abraham kept digging wells only for others to claim his water. His grandson Jacob had to move well stones to feed livestock and other water issues are explored by the bible. 

Jesus confirmed the value of water when he spoke to the Samaritan woman about water he could give to quench her deepest thirsts. 

Make no mistake. Water is very precious. Only 3% of all water on earth is fresh water and of that 30% is ground water, of which 87% is in lakes. So less than 1% of all earth's water is viable. 

But the ice that feeds rivers  is melting into the seas to reduce what we have to feed a growing global population and its industries. 

We have not heard the last on water disputes. 

Many more disputes will yet rage across nations over water rights and it may spawn wars that will imperil global order. 

But climate change is accelerating that and will, in turn, aggravate things as summer temperatures rise and water shortages increase. 

This may yet prove to be one of the biggest casualties of global warming. 

(c) Peter Missing @ me2u2all.blogspot.com