RIYADH, 9 March 2003 — Less than one percent of Saudi Arabia’s GDP is spent on research into water issues, said Mubarak Al-Salamah of the High Commission for the Development of the Hail Region at the Gulf Water Conference here yesterday. “There should be a greater commitment to addressing this vital area.”
Dr. Abdullah Abdelsalam Ahmad, UNESCO chairman for water resources, continued the theme, pointing out that focused education and research was critical.
“People always look for higher degrees,” he said, “rather than at the needs of the country. Graduates with specialist degrees often end up working in administrative posts totally unsuited to their qualification.”
“Water is a finite resource and thus has an economic value,” he said, turning to the issue of pricing water accurately and introducing realistic water charges to end-users. “This means that the management and distribution of water should be structured and coordinated as an economic commodity, but not necessarily sold. However, water pricing should be handled by the state.”
Dr. Abdullah pointed out that the state has to be involved at the international level as well as the domestic. “More than 77 percent of surface water resources used in the Arab world comes from outside,” he said, hinting that possible disagreements over water had very significant international ramifications.
“There has to be a development of awareness in the community about water usage,” he said, “and women can play an extremely valuable role in this, as in many countries in the region they are the major end-users, especially in agriculture. They are in a position to pass this awareness on to their families and the local community.”
Research into available reserves and management techniques for the pricing and distribution of water formed the basis of most of the presentations and discussion sessions yesterday.
Other delegates at the conference were equally outspoken in their views on the management, conservation and pricing of water in the Arab world.
Underground water in the Kingdom is, like oil, a finite resource, Dr. Radwan Al-Weshah of UNESCO said. “Are we dealing with it in the same way? The question is, if it has a value, then should we be using the profit from putting a tariff on it to finance the development of desalination?”
Other delegates argued that a reduction in water intensive procedures might contribute as much benefit to conservation of Saudi Arabia’s water reserves. There was a general agreement that agriculture accounts for 85 percent or more of groundwater use. Agriculture was called into question as a profit center. Its percentage of the GDP of the Kingdom is relatively small compared with the effect it has on strategic water reserves. Delegates thought that water, imported in the form of agricultural produce, was an alternative worthy of much greater consideration than it is at present.
Dr. Abdul Malek from King Saud University pointed to the Ministry of Agriculture and municipal bodies as centers for the inefficient use of water. “Citizens” he said, “don’t waste it. They buy it. Don’t touch the citizens, ration water and encourage sensible use.”
Khalid Al-Mansour from the Saline Water Conversion Corporation agreed. “Fifty percent of desalinated water goes to domestic consumption,” he said, “but as much as 50 percent is lost in transportation, leakage from pipes or tankers, for example. This all adds to the final cost of water.”
He saw tariffs as a means, not an end in themselves. “We should not simply increase tariffs,” he said, “but use them as penalties for inefficient use of water, much in the same way as penalties are imposed for violations of traffic or other community laws.”
