Construction work takes place, at the site of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam near Assosa, Ethiopia, June 28, 2013 (AP)

Groundwater is non-renewable in Egypt, and it lies very deep below the land surface, Egyptian Irrigation Minister Hani Swailem said on Friday.

"Groundwater in Egypt is non-renewable and located at great depths, so it is either impossible to reach it, or it is expensive to pump it up, or the water is very salty and unusable," he said in a statement.

The minister noted that a lot of work was needed to improve Cairo's assessment and protection of water resources from underground reservoir-dependent ecosystems.

The Nile's waters supply over 90% of Egypt's needs for freshwater. Cairo is concerned that the Renaissance dam, which is being constructed in Ethiopia, may lead to water shortages in the future, damaging Egypt's agricultural economy.

This comes after it was reported Thursday that the construction of its Renaissance dam was 90% complete.

On the occasion of the 12th anniversary of the start of the dam's construction, the Office of National Coordination for the Construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam held a briefing to discuss recent developments in the dam's construction.

During the briefing, officials hailed Ethiopians' contributions to the project in terms of funding, expertise, and labor, Ethiopian news agency Fana reported. They also thanked diplomats who defended the project from international criticism.

The $4.2 billion project was launched in 2012 and is expected to be Africa's largest hydroelectric scheme in the continent's history.

It has been the center of intense regional disputes with neighboring countries due to experts warning that the project will inevitably result in water shortages in both Egypt and Sudan.

Because of their reliance on Nile waters, Cairo and Khartoum see the project as a threat. The three countries have held several consultations but have never reached a mutual understanding.

In the summer of 2020, tensions reached a boiling point when Ethiopia began to fill the dam without having agreed to do so with Egypt and Sudan.

Ethiopia has already started generating electricity from the GERD in February 2022. The two operational turbines, out of a total of 13, can currently generate 750 megawatts of electricity.

The structure is 145 meters (475 feet) high and 1.8 kilometers long, straddling a Nile tributary in the Benishangul-Gumuz region of northwestern Ethiopia, near the Sudanese border.

Earlier this month, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry accused Ethiopia of "continuing to fill and operate the Renaissance Dam without a binding agreement."

Addis Ababa underlined that it was committed to continuing to fill and operate the dam in accordance with the Declaration of Principles agreement reached in March 2015 and signed by Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan with full respect for the principle of the fair and reasonable use of transboundary waters.

Despite African Union-sponsored talks, Ethiopia and its downstream neighbors Egypt and Sudan have yet to reach an agreement on the GERD's operations.

Because of their reliance on Nile waters, Cairo and Khartoum see it as a threat. However, Ethiopia sees it as critical to the electrification and development of Africa's second most populous country.

It was one of Africa's fastest-growing economies until November 2020, when war broke out in northern Ethiopia between federal government forces and Tigray People's Liberation Front.

Egypt, an arid country that relies on the Nile for about 97 percent of its irrigation and drinking water, protested to the UN Security Council last month that the dam's third filling was underway.