“Close to 21 million cubic meters of rain and flood waters which had gathered behind the precautionary dam during the rains and floods in November last year have completely dried up,” said Fakieh after visiting the dam.

He added that the liquid there was rainwater. “The water was not sewage as some people claim,” he said, adding that the precautionary dam had prevented flood waters from hitting many parts of east Jeddah and thus a greater catastrophe was avoided.

Alawi Simait, undersecretary for construction and project at the Jeddah Municipality, said water behind the dam had reached 14 meters in height.

“The water has been emptied out by channeling it through the southern water canal,” he said, adding that between 170,000 and 185,000 cubic meters of water was removed every day.

“All of the water has been eliminated. There is only a thin layer of alluvium left which can be used for agricultural purposes,” he added. Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has issued a royal decree instructing municipality officials to empty the hazardous Musk Lake within a year. He also ordered that the cases of all those accused of complicity in the Nov. 25 catastrophe be referred to the watchdog for government employees and the national prosecution body.

“All the accused in this case are to be referred to the Control and Investigation Board and the Prosecution and Investigation Commission according to the nature of the crime they have been accused of. This should happen after the urgent completion of procedures during criminal investigations,” the king said. The floods killed at least 123 people and destroyed thousands of homes and vehicles.