JEDDAH: Temporary flood defenses will be protecting the city’s residents from potential disasters for the next two rainy seasons, Jeddah Mayor Adel Fakieh declared on Wednesday.
“All projects Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah had ordered have been carried out and completed,” Fakieh added.
The projects include a complete drainage of water from the lake behind the precautionary dam, which according to Fakieh have saved the local residents from a potential disaster.
“If the water level behind the precautionary dam had reached 7 meters it could have overflowed into Jeddah’s center.”
The municipality revealed future plans, to be carried out next week, starting with the draining of water behind the precautionary dam, so it could contain future rain. The width of the dam walls between the fourth and fifth evaporation ponds as well as the seventh and eighth has been increased.
Ibrahim Kutubkhana, deputy mayor for construction and projects, pointed out that the water behind the precautionary dam, which was 13.8 meters high, was all water from rain. “It has nothing to do with the sewage lake, as the municipality had ended any dumping of raw sewage into it,” he added.
“The municipality has finished the construction of two so-called safe doors to the dams’ concrete wall to prevent any potential leakages of rainwater behind the dam.”
The deputy mayor also said water from the sewage lake is being treated so it could be used to water the Jeddah eastern forest, wetlands near the lake and private gardens and trees.
Al-Samer dam is seven meters high and is situated on a flood plain close to the Musk Lake.
Kutubkhana had also said earlier that the two sand dams near the lake are safe from any leakage. “Jeddah municipality dispatched specialist field teams to inspect the water level and the dams on Wednesday. The lake’s level hadn’t increased from its initial level of 9.6 meters.”
