RIYADH, 13 July — In a major move to protect the Kingdom’s dwindling water resources, Prince Sultan, second deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, has instituted an SR6 million international award for scientists and scholars providing solutions to a range of water-related problems faced by the country today.
Prince Sultan has approved the regulations for awarding this prize to researchers in five different categories. The move to institute "Prince Sultan International Award for Water" by approving the relevant regulations, is aimed at promoting efforts to conserve the country’s depleting water resources and generating proper awareness about rationalization of water use.
Saudi Arabia has already intensified moves to conserve water resources and has introduced several measures and water-related projects under the new agriculture policy to save water. Riyadh had also imposed a ban on wheat exports way back in 1994, reducing the use of water for wheat irrigation. The overall production of wheat and barley has been gradually reduced from about six million tons in 1992 to two million tons.
It does not mean, however, that the Kingdom is facing water crisis today. Saudi Arabia, which spent SR15.3 billion on water projects during the fifth Five Year Plan, has been able to provide access to safe drinking water for more than 90 percent of its population.
Referring to this prestigious international prize to be given to scientists and scholars, a statement said that the prize will be conferred biannually in five major categories — conservation of water resources, water management, research works in the field of surface water, underground water and alternative water resources. The emphasis will be to recognize efforts of individuals, experts and scientific organizations working in these five broad areas. Each award, the statement said, will carry a cash prize of SR500,000 and a certificate of appreciation. The remaining amount will be spent on promoting this award and to meet the expenses of the award’s board of directors, which will be headed by Dr. Khaled ibn Abdul Rahman Al-Hamoudi. Another scholar, Dr. Abdul Malik ibn Abdul Rahman Al-Sheikh has been named as secretary-general of the panel, which is still to be constituted formally.
Referring to the aims of this move personally initiated by Prince Sultan, the statement said that "this prize will reward those working for economizing water consumption and providing potable water especially in dry arid regions." Water use in Saudi Arabia is said to be alarmingly high with 400 liters per capita daily consumption against an international average of only about 200 liters. But Saudi Arabia has already finished several multibillion riyal projects to ensure the availability of water all across the country.
Despite this achievement, the rapid increase in consumption has made it necessary to give more attention to develop the water sector and to persuade people to conserve water. The growing water consumption of the Kingdom is expected to exceed 20 billion cubic meters by the year 2010. Currently, the desalinated sea water constitutes around 70 percent of supply in Saudi Arabia, a country which has emerged to be the largest producer of desalinated water in the world today. Its water desalination output amounts to 30 percent of the total world production.
