For a while now, the issue of water availability in the region has been in the limelight. In the UAE, the water footprint is of concern and Abu Dhabi is considered a water-stressed area. The Climate Change and Future of Water conference held in the capital this week brought this issue into sharp focus yet again. According to studies, the water table in the UAE has been reducing by about one metre per year and at this rate, the country will run out of fresh groundwater resources over the next five decades.
Though Abu Dhabi is taking many measures to address this issue — such as sustainable desalination, efficient use of water in agriculture, regulating groundwater well drilling, etc — these efforts could be rendered useless if domestic usage of water does not show a cutback. The UAE has the highest water consumption in the world — 82 per cent above the world average as reported in 2013 — and this kind of indulgence is no longer an option.
It is time for every resident in the UAE to help the country in its efforts to conserve water. Abusing this privilege will only ensure it is lost forever.
