Environmental flows (eflows) describe the quantity, timing, and quality of freshwater flows and levels necessary to sustain aquatic ecosystems which, in turn, support human cultures, economies, livelihoods, and well-being (Sensu Arthington et al., 2018). Over the last years, the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) has developed its "Strategy for Management of Environmental Flows in the Nile Basin", during which an environmental flow assessment methodology (EFM) has been developed. Considering the many development activities in the Nile basin, eflow requirements urgently need to be established in order to ensure sustainable development and holistic planning of the use of water resources. In 2016 the NBI developed an eflow framework to support and coordinate eflow
determination processes and management in the basin. This phased framework is not an EFM but a framework to guide the management of eflows including the selection of and use of EFMs and then alignment of eflows and their implementation.