Under the 1959 Nile Waters Agreement between Egypt and Sudan, Egypt’s share of the Nile flow is 55.5 km³/yr. The agreement was based on the average flow of the Nile during the period 1900-1959, which was 84 km³/yr at Aswan.

Average annual evaporation and other losses from the Aswan High Dam and reservoir (Lake Nasser) were estimated at 10 km³/yr, leaving a net usable flow of 74 km³/yr, of which 18.5 km³/yr was allocated to Sudan and 55.5 km³/yr to Egypt.

In 1998, recognizing that cooperative development was the best way to bring mutual benefits to the region, all riparian countries (except Eritrea which had observer status only) joined in a dialogue to create a regional partnership to facilitate the common pursuit of sustainable development and management of Nile waters.

The transitional mechanism, the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI), was officially launched in February 1999 in Dar es Salaam, the United Republic of Tanzania, by the Council of Ministers of Water Affairs of the Nile Basin States. The shared vision of the NBI is "to achieve sustainable socio-economic development through the equitable utilization of and benefit from the common Nile Basin water resources".

The first meeting of the International Consortium for Cooperation on the Nile (ICCON) took place in 2001 in Geneva, Switzerland to celebrate cooperation between the ten countries of the Nile Basin and to establish partnerships leading to sustainable development and management of the Nile River for the benefit of all.

The ICCON’s first meeting was a major milestone for the NBI as it brought together, for the first time, ministers and senior officials from Nile Basin countries with a broad range of bilateral and multilateral donors and other interested parties from civil society, professional organizations, the media and NGOs.

If conditions permit the completion of the development projects on the Upper Nile, Egypt’s share in the Nile water will increase by 9 km³. This amount includes 1.9 km³ and 1.6 km³ respectively from the first and second phases of the Jonglei canal project in southern Sudan. Two other projects in the upstream swamps are expected to provide 5.5 km³.

The vast Nubian Sandstone aquifer is shared with the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Sudan and Chad.