Water Use in Saudi Arabia: Problems and Policy Implications
Publication: Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 116, Issue 3
Abstract
Saudi Arabia is an arid country with the potenial for acute water shortage. The demand for water has grown substantially against a scarce and dwindling water supply. This growing imbalance has been met mainly by increasing water supply, while water‐demand management has been overlooked. The critical issue is how to reconcile the rapidly rising demand with scarce and depletable resources. This paper demonstrates and emphasizes the need and the urgency of adopting conservation and water‐demand management programs to achieve an acceptable balance between water needs and availability. There is considerable scope for improving the efficiency of water use in various sectors. The government of Saudi Arabia must shift its emphasis from supply development to demand management to avoid wasteful, inefficient uses of critical and nonrenewable water resources. The paper describes the country's water resources, discusses some problems and their implications of water use, and suggests some possible conservation measures with more emphasis on the agricultural sector, the largest and most inefficient user of water.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Abdulla, N. Y., and Abdul, Aziz, M. H. (1981). “Vegetable crop response to different methods of irrigation.” Coll. of Agr. Res. Bulletin, Riyadh University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 3, 91–106 (in Arabic).
2.
Ali, I., et al. (1985). “Use of secondary treated efficient for irrigation: Yield and environmental aspects.” Reprints of the Papers for the 2nd Saudi Engineers Conf., University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, Volume 4.
3.
Al Taweel, A. M., Bushnak, A., and Bawarthi, W. (1980). “A strategy for the use of agricultural drainage waters in Saudi Arabia.” Nat. Water Supply and Improvement Assoc. J., 7(2), 15–26.
4.
Annual report. (1985). Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
5.
Annual report. (1986a). Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
6.
Annual report. (1986b). Water and Sewage Authority of the Eastern Province, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
7.
Annual report. (1987). Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
8.
Clark, R. M. (1976). “Water supply economics.” J. Urban Plng. and Dev. Div., ASCE, 102(I), 213–224.
9.
El Khatib, A. B. (1980). Seven green spikes. Ministry of Agriculture and Water, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
10.
Fourth development plan. (1985). Ministry of Planning Press, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
11.
A guide to industrial investment. (1986). Saudi Consulting House, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
12.
Hammer, M. (1987). “Water supply in Saudi Arabia. Part I: Desalinated seawater.” Middle East Water and Sewage, Surrey, England, 11(2), 50–51.
13.
Heathcote, R. L. (1983). The arid lands: Their use and abuse. Longman, London, England.
14.
“How to stop excessive water use?” (1988). Al‐Khaleej, Abu Dabi, United Arab Emerates (in Arabic).
15.
Howe, C. W., Linaweaver, F. P., Jr. (1976). “The impact of pricing on residential water demand and its relation to system design and price structure.” Water Resour. Res., 3(1), 13–32.
16.
Kaltham, M. S. (1980). “Evaluation of Riyadh City Water Supply and Demand,” thesis presented to the University of Wyoming, at Laramie, Wyo., in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
17.
Kelly, R., and Schnadelbach, R. T. (1976). Landscaping the Saudi Arabian desert. Delancy Press, Philadelphia, Pa.
18.
Kini, D. (1983). “Desalination plants, dams meet Kingdom's water needs; future supplies still critical.” Saudi Business, Jeddha, Saudi Arabia, May 21.
19.
National water plan. (1980). British Arabian Advisory Company, Ministry of Agriculture and Water, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
20.
Nemir, C. E. (1985). “Groundwater—the changing problem in Texas.” Issues in groundwater management, E. T. Smerdon and W. R. Jordan, eds., Center for Research in Water Resources, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Tex.
21.
Sadhan, A. S. (1978). “Water plan for Wadi Fatima Basin, Saudi Arabia,” thesis presented to the University of Arizona, at Tucson, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
22.
Survey of constraints: Water. (1975). SCET International, Ministry of Planning, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
23.
Third development plan. (1980). Ministry of Planning Press, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
24.
Wojcik, C. K., and Maadhah, A. G. (1981). “Water and desalination programs of Saudi Arabia.” Water Supply and Improvement Assoc. J., 8(2), 3–21.
25.
World development report. (1986). World Bank. Oxford University Press, New York, N.Y.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
Copyright © 1990 ASCE.
History
Published online: May 1, 1990
Published in print: May 1990
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.