Egypt's Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Mohammed Abdel-Moteleb downplayed the effect of a new dam which Ethiopia plans to establish on Lake Tana. In statements to the state news agency (MENA), Abdel-Moteleb asserted that the new dam will not impact the influx of water of Nasser Lake in South Egypt. Egypt's technical studies have showed that the project will not affect the water flow to Nasser Lake, the minister said. He pointed that the dam for irrigation and drinking water purposes, adding that the project design was studied thoroughly by a French consultancy firm in 1998. The dam will provide 250 million cubic meter of water per year for an Ethiopian agricultural project to be set up on an area of 336 million square meters.