“As you know he's on a private holiday. Thank God he is in good health,” the prince told reporters while announcing this year’s winners of the Prince Sultan International Prize for Water.
Prince Sultan recently met with Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah at his residence in Agadir and discussed major regional and international issues.
Prince Khaled, who is chairman of the Prince Sultan Water Prize, emphasized the strategic importance of water.
“The conflicts between countries over water are more than those of borders,” Prince Khaled pointed out. He described the prize as the largest of its kind in the world.
Prince Khaled said the prize would encourage scientists and researchers to conduct more research about water for the benefit of humanity.
The prize for creativity valued at SR1 million was shared by two American research teams. The prize for management of water resources valued at SR500,000 was won by an American researcher while the prize for alternative water resources went to a Belgian researcher, said Abdullatif Al-Asheikh, the prize committee’s secretary-general.
The initial review of applications revealed that the 4th Award of the Prince Sultan Prize received a total of 205 nominations from 53 different countries.
There were 39 nominations for the Surface Water Prize, for which the topic for the 4th Award was: “Innovative Methods for Rain and Runoff Water Modeling.”
There were 34 nominations for the Groundwater Prize and 30 nominations for the Alternative (Nontraditional) Water Resources Prize. There were 53 nominations for the Water Resources Management & Protection Prize while the Creativity Prize received 49 nominations.
The awards ceremony will be held at the 4th International Conference on Water Resources and Arid Environments on Dec. 5.
