The Face of Truth | Ibrahim Shaglawi Our Water Security… On the Brink of Thirst
Water security has become one of the fundamental pillars of the modern state amid climate change, the complexities of geopolitics, and growing competition over resources. What has unfolded in recent days—from the disruption of water stations in Bahri, Abu Saad, and Al-Manara, to the declining efficiency of irrigation pumps along the Blue Nile and the Main Nile, alongside the renewed debate over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD)—reflects an institutional failure in managing one of the country’s most important sovereign and developmental resources. The issue has lost much of its strategic weight within the structure of the state and has receded from the priorities of decision-makers.
Water security is no longer merely a technical matter confined to monitoring water levels and operating reservoirs; it has become one of the pillars of our national security and national sovereignty. States that lose control over the management of their water resources also lose their economic resources, while surrendering part of their political decision-making independence. Therefore, our reading of what is happening today should not stop at the decline in the Nile’s water level, but rather focus on the messages this decline conveys to the country’s leadership.
The statement issued on Friday by the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation regarding the stability of the water situation was intended to reassure citizens. At the same time, however—whether intentionally or not—it revealed an unsettling reality: Sudan has indeed entered a new hydrological phase imposed by changes in the Nile Basin, foremost among them the operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. Although the statement affirmed that the water situation was stable and reassuring and attributed the decline in Nile water levels to reduced dam releases, it implicitly acknowledged that river management is no longer what it used to be, and that Sudan is now dealing with a new water reality requiring different tools and a more proactive vision.
The significance of the statement also lies, beyond the figures it presented on water inflows and the stable operation of reservoirs, in revealing that Sudan’s water security has become subject to new regional and hydrological variables that extend beyond day-to-day management. The decline in inflows to Lake Roseires, along with the resulting drop in water levels at several stations, constitutes a serious indicator that calls for a comprehensive review of how this strategic resource is managed.
From this point arises the real question: Is it sufficient to succeed in overcoming this temporary decline, or is what is required the construction of an integrated water management system capable of dealing with future transformations? The statement reassured the public, and that is important, but at the same time it opened a broader discussion about the future of water security in our country.
The first message is that water management is no longer a service issue; it is an issue of sovereignty. The absence of an independent institution to lead this sector has created a strategic vacuum that has weakened planning, coordination, and response. Therefore, restoring the Ministry of Water Resources has become both imperative and essential, as it represents the restoration of the state’s capacity to manage one of the most critical elements of our national security.
The second message is that the crisis has demonstrated Sudan’s possession of national expertise capable of providing practical solutions. Engineers have proposed technical measures, most notably readjusting the discharge rates of the Roseires, Jebel Aulia, and Khashm El Girba dams, improving the operation of the dam system, and removing sedimentation to enhance the efficiency of water supply. Despite the importance of these measures, they remain crisis-containment efforts rather than a substitute for a comprehensive national water security strategy.
The transformations taking place in the Nile Basin, climate change, and the reality imposed by the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam require Sudan to move from managing individual facilities to managing an integrated water system based on operating reservoirs as a unified network, improving monitoring and early warning systems, and establishing a national water information center. Accurate information has become an integral part of crisis management and confidence-building while taking national security requirements into account.
Experts also believe that the current stage requires rethinking the philosophy of water storage, because protecting water security depends not only on the volume of available resources, but also on the state’s ability to manage and secure them through strategic projects that safeguard the rights of future generations.
Yet the heart of the crisis remains with the citizen.
Farmers and families do not read water level indicators or operational reports; rather, they measure the state’s performance by whether water reaches their fields and homes. Therefore, transparency in explaining the crisis and announcing the paths of response is not merely a media exercise, but an integral part of the water security system and the process of building public trust. This crisis has demonstrated that water is no longer a natural resource managed through a service-oriented approach; it has become an element of sovereignty linked to food security, energy, stability, and the country’s regional standing, making it imperative to adopt a national strategy that protects this resource before scarcity evolves into an existential crisis.
Sudan possesses water resources and expertise that qualify it to become a regional water power. However, according to #The_Face_of_Truth, this requires elevating water from a service portfolio to an issue of national sovereignty. Therefore, establishing a National Water Security Authority, reporting directly to the Head of State and bringing together expertise, information, and decision-making, has become an urgent necessity. The problem is not the receding waters of the Nile as much as it is the absence of preparedness, for the land of the Two Niles may soon face thirst if it fails to realize that protecting water means protecting both the present and the future.
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Sunday, July 19, 2026
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