ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA. Dr. Yilma Seleshi (Interim Director, Ethiopian Institute of Water Resources and Associate Professor in Water Resources Engineering at Addis Ababa University) and Dr. Dereje Hailu (Civil Engineering Department, Addis Ababa University) met with members of the Institute for Water Resources (IWR) on April 10, 2014 to obtain ideas for development of their new Ethiopian Water Center.
The center, partially funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), will be a collaboration between Addis Ababa University and the Ethiopian government’s Ministry of Water. This initiative is prompted by the on-going construction of the Grand Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile River, a large and regionally significant undertaking.
Presentations on the capabilities of IWR; the International Center for Integrated Water Resources Management (ICIWaRM), under the auspices of UNESCO; the Alliance for Global Water Adaptation (AGWA); IWR’s Hydrologic Engineering Center (HEC); and IWR’s Shared Vision Planning process were presented, respectively, by IWR and ICIWaRM Director Bob Pietrowsky, ICIWaRM Deputy Director Dr. Will Logan, ICIWaRM team member Dr. Guillermo Mendoza, HEC Director Chris Dunn, and IWR’s Conflict and Public Participation Center of Expertise Director Hal Cardwell. IWR senior advisor and water policy expert Dr. Jerry Delli Priscoli also provided important insights during the discussion.
The group’s visit to IWR concluded a three-week visit to the United States, where Dr. Seleshi and Dr. Hailu visited several Federal agencies, universities and state organizations to gather information related to the formation of the new Ethiopian Water Center. The IWR visit was coordinated by former IWR employee, Dr. Jason Giovannettone, currently of HydroMet, LLC.