Environment & Infrastructures division Director
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Environment & Infrastructures division Director
3 QUESTIONS TO ...
The integrated water management strategy aims to ensure a long-term water-secure future for AlUla. As a foundational step, the current water balance for AlUla will be constructed alongside a business-as-usual scenario to assess the future gap between supply and demand.
Further sets of scenarios will be developed to help set the supply regulations, determine the interventions required to ensure water security and address water scarcity. Based on these interventions, a results-based action plan will be created using various regulatory, pricing, and local governance tools.
Finally, an implementation plan will be recommended with an appropriate timeline and monitoring mechanism. Because water affects everyone in AlUla and RCU, the approach adopted for this project is a participatory one. The project will be steered by a multi-stakeholder and joint RCU-AFALULA working group to ensure all water interests are covered. The study was launched after approval of the tender documents and was also jointly evaluated. Future gateways will involve collaboration between RCU and AFALULA.
The Environment & Infrastructure division is working on the development of a water strategy for AlUla. What are the broad outlines of the project?
A holistic program has been designed and is now ongoing to ensure the joint sustainability of water and agriculture. As very limited information was previously available, two field missions by the Bureau de Recherches géologiques et minières (BRGM) between 2019 and 2022 helped provide an overview of the groundwater aquifers in AlUla, including estimates of water abstractions used in irrigation and non-agriculture purposes.
These field missions helped inform the agricultural strategy and the irrigation transformation plan undertaken to optimize water consumption and the overall agricultural footprint.
Further work was undertaken to construct the hydrogeological model of the two aquifers underneath AlUla. Various sets of scenarios were run to make informed decisions about the future of water and agriculture in the county. In addition, preliminary design of a piezometric network was also undertaken to continuously and remotely monitor the water level. Such live monitoring will help future management of the aquifer system and water availability. All studies and works carried out so far confirmed the need to create an integrated water management strategy for AlUla.
What projects are deployed in AlUla with the aim of optimizing the irrigation systems in the territories and thus making them more sustainable?
“No water, no life. No blue, no green ”, as the saying goes. Water is an essential input for agriculture and proper management of irrigation water becomes critical in a water-scarce environment such as AlUla.
As AlUla is undergoing an ambitious development program, the pressure on underground water resources by competing non-agricultural demands as well as other agricultural projects that are a part of this plan is increasing.
Sophisticated water management, including irrigation, is therefore a necessity in AlUla. Water savings can be used more efficiently either for other uses or for more productive agriculture.
Being the largest consumer in AlUla, agriculture today has more potential for savings than others and therefore requires a water-use review in terms of irrigation practices, crop patterns and so on. This exercise will also bring other benefits to farmers such as reduced pumping costs, a chance to improve agricultural productivity and of course increase the monetary return to farmers. With its connection to the oasis, the agriculture within AlUla gives the location its unique spirit and is an important element underpinning its community, culture and heritage.
What is the importance of water management today for agricultural projects in the region?
“No water, no life. No blue, no green ”, as the saying goes. Water is an essential input for agriculture and proper management of irrigation water becomes critical in a water-scarce environment such as AlUla.
As AlUla is undergoing an ambitious development program, the pressure on underground water resources by competing non-agricultural demands as well as other agricultural projects that are a part
of this plan is increasing.
Sophisticated water management, including irrigation, is therefore a necessity in AlUla. Water savings can be used more efficiently either for other uses or for more productive agriculture.
Being the largest consumer in AlUla, agriculture today has more potential for savings than others
and therefore requires a water-use review in terms of irrigation practices, crop patterns and so on.
This exercise will also bring other benefits to farmers such as reduced pumping costs, a chance to improve agricultural productivity and of course increase the monetary return to farmers. With its connection to the oasis, the agriculture within AlUla gives the location its unique spirit and is an important element underpinning its community, culture and heritage.
What is the importance of water management today for agricultural projects in the region?
A holistic program has been designed and is now ongoing to ensure the joint sustainability of water and agriculture. As very limited information was previously available, two field missions by the Bureau de Recherches géologiques et minières (BRGM) between 2019 and 2022 helped provide an overview of the groundwater aquifers in AlUla, including estimates of water abstractions used in irrigation and non-agriculture purposes.
These field missions helped inform the agricultural strategy and the irrigation transformation plan undertaken to optimize water consumption and the overall agricultural footprint.
Further work was undertaken to construct the hydrogeological model of the two aquifers underneath AlUla. Various sets of scenarios were run to make informed decisions about the future of water and agriculture in the county. In addition, preliminary design of a piezometric network was also undertaken to continuously and remotely monitor the water level. Such live monitoring will help future management of the aquifer system and water availability. All studies and works carried out so far confirmed the need to create an integrated water management strategy for AlUla.
What projects are deployed in AlUla with the aim of optimizing the irrigation systems in the territories and thus making them more sustainable?
The integrated water management strategy aims to ensure a long-term water-secure future for AlUla. As a foundational step, the current water balance for AlUla will be constructed alongside a business-as-usual scenario to assess the future gap between supply and demand.
Further sets of scenarios will be developed to help set the supply regulations, determine the interventions required to ensure water security and address water scarcity. Based on these interventions, a results-based action plan will be created using various regulatory, pricing, and local governance tools.
Finally, an implementation plan will be recommended with an appropriate timeline and monitoring mechanism. Because water affects everyone in AlUla and RCU, the approach adopted for this project is a participatory one. The project will be steered by a multi-stakeholder and joint RCU-AFALULA working group to ensure all water interests are covered. The study was launched after approval of the tender documents and was also jointly evaluated. Future gateways will involve collaboration between RCU and AFALULA.
The Environment & Infrastructure division is working on the development of a water strategy for AlUla. What are the broad outlines of the project?
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