When Moses and the retreating Jews find themselves trapped between the Pharaoh’s army and the Red Sea, Moses miraculously parts the waters of the Red Sea, allowing his followers to escape. The waters close behind them and cut off the Egyptians.
Military conflict nearly ensues between Britain and France in 1898 when a French expedition attempts to gain control of the headwaters of the White Nile. While the parties ultimately negotiate a settlement of the dispute, the incident is since characterized as having “dramatized Egypt’s vulnerable dependence on the Nile, and fixed the attitude of Egyptian policy-makers ever since.”
Egypt sends an unsuccessful military expedition into disputed territory amidst pending negotiations over the Nile waters, Sudanese general elections, and an Egyptian vote on Sudan-Egypt unification; Nile Water Treaty signed when pro-Egyptian government elected in Sudan.
Demonstrations in Juba, Sudan in 1978 opposing the construction of the Jonglei Canal lead to the deaths of two students. Construction of the Jonglei Canal in the Sudan is suspended in 1984 following a series of attacks on the construction site.
Long standing tensions over the Nile, especially the Blue Nile, originate in Ethiopia. Ethiopia’s proposed construction of dams on the headwaters of the Blue Nile leads Egypt to repeatedly declare the vital importance of water. “The only matter that could take Egypt to war again is water’ (Anwar Sadat, 1979). “The next war in our region will be over the waters of the Nile, not politics” (Boutros Boutrous-Ghali, 1988).
The Arab-Fur War (1987-1989) between the Arab and Fur ethnic groups in Libya, is triggered in part by severe drought that strains farmer-herder relationships. Libyan leader Gaddafi sends drought relief supplies and weaponry to opposing sides.
A bomb placed by a group suspected to be affiliated with an extremist Islamic insurgency detonates near the Sidi Khaled water tower, damaging a two-meter section of pipe.
The Sidi Khaled water tower, which overlooks Tiaret, Algeria, is bombed. Four other similar attacks are cited in Hassi R’mel, Ouled, Tolba, and Arzew.
Clashes between rival tribes (Rezaigat and Massalit) over water and grazing rights leave more than 100 people dead and about 45 villages gutted in West Darfur, Sudan.
Units of the Moroccan army destroy the wells situated in the municipalities of Guelta and Boujdour. Citizens usually use these wells to provide water for their sheep in the summer.