Saudi Arabia has stepped up its efforts to rationalize local water consumption, sustain and maintain water security, and provide high quality water supplies to consumers. This is perceived to contribute positively to economic development in the Kingdom and to embody a leap in materializing initiatives and programs presented by the National Water Strategy 2030.
The water situation in Saudi Arabia demands cooperation between the public and private sectors for developing technologies pertaining to cost-efficient desalination and distribution mechanisms, said Saudi Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture, Abdulrahman bin Abdulmohsen Al-Fadhli. The minister also predicted an increasing flow of investment to that effect.
He noted that projects, currently under construction, will provide up to 3 million cubic meters of water.
In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, head of the General Establishment for Irrigation, Fuad bin Ahmad Al-Asheikh Mubarak, said that raising irrigation efficiency and cutting consumption rates of non-renewable water figures high on the ministry’s agenda. He pointed out multiple measures have been taken to preserve groundwater.
Mubarak added that the National Water Strategy approved by the Council of Ministers aims to cut water consumption in the agricultural sector from an annual rate of 21 billion cubic meters per year to 12 billion cubic meters by 2030.
The Saudi Water Forum, organized by the Environment Ministry under the title “Sustainable Water for Sustainable Development,” was launched in Riyadh Sunday. According to Mubarak, eight Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) have been signed at the event so far. The event’s first day saw the holding of four workshops attended by a large number of officials from the water sector.
The ministry, through this forum, seeks to benefit from international experts and use its outcomes and recommendations to achieve the goals listed in the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 plan for transformation and the National Water Strategy.
The first workshop tackled water sustainability. It addressed modern technical and technological processes that can be employed to manage water projects, as well as the main challenges facing the water sector globally and in the Kingdom.
The second workshop dealt with smart technologies in water distribution management, their role in providing accurate measurements and readings, and their ability to detect malfunctions and leaks.
It also presented a new distribution mechanism that could promote water sustainability and help achieve the sector’s goals if adopted. The latest designs and operating methods of membrane desalination plants were discussed in the third workshop.
