Abu Dhabi sets up permanent committee on water and agriculture resources
Under the directives of H.H President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, H.H. General Mohammad bin Zayed Al Nahyan Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces and Chairman of the Executive Council of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, Decree No. (87) was issued on December 24, 2009 to set up a Permanent Committee for Water and Agriculture Resources.
The Committee is chaired by H.E. Mohammad Al Bowardi, Secretary General of Abu Dhabi Executive Council with H.E. Majid Al Mansouri, Secretary General of Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi (EAD) as deputy chairman of the committee.
The decree was issued because it is in line with the aspirations of the Government of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi to develop ambitious policies, strategies and plans in the water and agriculture sector. Moreover, it reflects the integration of efforts to preserve water resources, in addition to rationalising and maximising efficiency to serve the various development sectors and maintain the prosperity of the Emirate and its global leadership in this area.
The Committee’s responsibility includes developing an inventory of all water resources in the Emirate. This includes groundwater, desalinated and treated wastewater.
It shall review the modern techniques of water production and treatment and adopt the development of these techniques and the use of renewable sources of energy in the production of water.
It will be responsible for evaluating, reviewing and adopting policies, strategies and action plans related to the treatment of waste water and reusing it.
The Committee will also study the best techniques used in the agricultural field and how they could contribute in increasing the food self-efficiency, as well as reviewing and analysing the criteria of the underground water for the provision of a strategic storage, in addition to developing a plan for providing water at emergency circumstances.
Moreover, the Committee will study ways of rationalising water consumption and establishing water and treated waste water networks. It will study the use of native plants to adorn the cities and streets and will also look into the establishment of an Abu Dhabi Water Council.
At its first meeting, H.E. Mohammed Al Bowardi stressed the importance of water resources in the development process and the economic, environmental and social impact of the challenges facing the rationalisation of water usage. He stressed the need to develop a general framework for the development of water resources through giving attention to all available resources including treated waste water to be used for all purposes as done in Singapore, noting that the use of treated waste water for irrigation and the application of better irrigation systems and agricultural techniques is an integral part of the agriculture strategy and food security, which could bring precedence and leadership to the Emirate at the global level and provides a lot of investments.
The Permanent Committee’s recommendations included:
- To form a technical secretariat of the Committee that would include a number of experts in water resources, agriculture, irrigation, the reuse of treated water and the calculation of water requirements and consumption of crops and plants to water and this is to be done by the best experts in this field.
- To adopt a proposed study of advanced treatment (nano, ultra) for wastewater.
- To study and develop the terms of reference for the establishment of a productive farm.
- EAD to conduct the project of inventorying all the wells and farms as well as measuring soil and water salinity and classifying them in addition to developing an exemplary data base.
- To link waste water treatment units, which has a non-used surplus of treated wastewater, to irrigate the forests or the parks and the gardens in these areas.
