The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and region have only two to five days of emergency water reserves for domestic use, according to a recent study by Dr Mohammad Dawoud, Manager Water Resources Department at the Environment Agency, Abu Dhabi, published by the Gulf Research Centre. Surface reservoirs are costly and not environmentally friendly, so Mr. Dawoud calls for more groundwater storage in the region to cope with crises over long periods of time. Desalination plants are vulnerable to pollution and emergency conditions. For example, the maximum stored water in the ground reservoirs and distribution network is enough only for 24 hours, except in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, where it is three and five days respectively. United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a Middle Eastern federation of seven states including Dubai and Abu Dhabi, bordering Oman and Saudi Arabia.

Source: Gulf News, 22 Sep 2007

Tags: water resources management