Global water stress exasperated by population growth and climate change is a great challenge for humanity. Parts of the world that don’t have access for sea water and the desalination technology and economy soon will see the impact from water stress. In the Nile basin in 2023, only four of the countries have met the 1000 m3 per capita water availability. Ethiopia, the source of over 86% of the Nile water, is in a perpetual food shortage where millions of people need food aid every year. It is sensitive to rainfall fluctuation and irrigation expansion is the only path to feed itself. Its irrigation water need put it in water conflict with Sudan and Egypt downstream who need the same water. Seventy percent of Ethiopia’s surface water resource is in the Nile basin. Expansion of irrigation will result in downstream flow reduction. Nile basin water management and water sharing agreements can extend the use of the river and minimize conflict. Each of these countries’ political and social stability has become dependent on water. Unilateral water abstraction and development of infrastructure on the Nile River reflects the value of the water and efforts to appropriate for oneself as much as possible. The recent construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile in Ethiopia has brought the Nile water right question to the surface with acute conflict expressed in many forms.