Are Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan are finally seeing eye-to-eye on GERD? Irrigation ministers from Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan agreed during last week’s meeting that the timetable to filling the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam’s (GERD) reservoir should be linked to the water cycle of the Blue Nile and should not exceed seven years, according to the Sudan Tribune. "It was agreed that filling should take place in up to seven years, depending on the hydrologic cycle of the Blue Nile," Sudanese Irrigation Minister Yasser Abbas said. The reservoir will be filled at a faster rate during times of increased flooding, and will be slowed in times of drought, sources familiar with the outcome of the meeting were quoted as saying by Al Masry Al Youm. The next round of talks will take place in Cairo on 2-3 December, before two subsequent meetings are held in Washington D.C. on 9 December and 13 January. The three countries agreed in Washington earlier this month that mediation will be sought if there is still no agreement after 15 January.