UNEP to monitor water usage in Arab cities

Dubai: The Arab cities will face a water shortage of 100 to 133 billion cubic meters per year by 2030 - an incident which will be the biggest economic, social and environmental challenge faced by Arab countries, said the UAE minister of Environment and Water.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed yesterday between the Environment Centre for Arab Towns (Ecat) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) during the Integrated Water Resources Management conference.

As part of the MoU, the environmental impact of the major cities in the Arab world will be monitored to give UNEP a city-specific outlook on what is happening in the 22 countries in the region.

Water, and the lack of it, is high up on the political agenda in many countries and part of the MoU's task is to find solution to fast depleting water resources.

Dr Mohammad Saeed Al Kindi, Minister of Environment and Water, said water resources management has always been on top of the government's strategic plan, and has recently declared water as a basic element of its infrastructure development policy.

"A study on the underground water reserve, construction of damns to enhance and nourish ground water reserve, rationalisation of water use in agriculture by using modern irrigation methods, construction of desalination plants and sewage treatment plants and using treated water in city landscaping projects and educating the public on the significance of water conservation are some of the steps taken by the government in this regard," said Al Kindi.

"Governments should facilitate sustainable development of water resources by laying down integrated water policies and regulatory frameworks. There should be stronger partnership with the private sector in this regard," he said.

Finding solutions

Dr Habib Al Habr, director and regional representative of UNEP, told Gulf News he was optimistic that the city-reports on environmental damage would be done in time to pin-point strategic problems and find solutions.

"We will aim to publish the GEO city [Global Environment Outlook] reports by the end of next year. UNEP has a major programme to analyse cities every four or five years but more from a national assessment. We're changing this to look at cities particularly," said Al Habr. "The problems of cities are very important and can affect the environment of a country. The problems faced here are similar to other countries. In Dubai the main issues are water, waste, energy, transport or development on the shoreline."

According Dr Radhiya Al Hashimi, director of Ecat, there is still time to take action and limit the damage.

"Water issues are the biggest problem. The conference will allow experts in similar situations to swap case studies and solutions. We don't have a very aware society and people don't know," she said.

Abu Dhabi has begun its GEO city analysis.