The Environment Agency in Abu Dhabi revealed that the state's water resources are distributed to five consumer sectors, the most important of which is "home use", which consumes 34% of the total of these resources, compared to 32% for the agricultural sector, pointing out that since the door was opened to register and license desalination plants on farms, Inventory and registration of more than 1130 small desalination plants on farms, using groundwater and desalination for agriculture.

The authority indicated that it had launched a project to measure water consumption in crops, which would achieve high rationalization rates in the uses of water wealth, as it exposes wasted quantities, noting that the new project achieves a rationalization rate of 30% of the current consumption of water used in growing crops, exceeding 150 million cubic meters of water annually.

In detail, the Acting Secretary-General of the Environment Agency in Abu Dhabi, Sheikha Al Dhaheri, during a lecture recently delivered at the Al Bateen Council in Abu Dhabi, under the title "Our Land is Our Originality", reviewed the achievements of the Authority, highlighting its role in protecting environmental diversity and providing environmental information. She also touched on the role of the founding leader, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan, may God have mercy on him, in preserving the environment, stressing that protecting the environment is a shared responsibility, which requires the concerted efforts of all members of society, and the institutions of the government and private sectors, noting the need to commit to protecting biodiversity locally Regionally and globally.

Al Dhaheri reported that 63% of the water resources used by the state depend mainly on groundwater, compared to 29% desalinated water, and 8% treated wastewater, explaining that the total water resources is distributed over five consumer sectors, the first of which is human domestic use, and consumes 34% Then the agricultural sector, which consumes 32%, the forests, which consume 15%, the cosmetic agriculture, which consumes 11%, and finally the water loss, which amounts to 8% of the total water wealth of the state.

Al Dhaheri reviewed four challenges facing the water resources in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, including increasing the demand for groundwater resources in a way that exceeds the natural regeneration quantities of the underground reservoirs, and the absence of counters on the wells that allow to know the quantities of disposal in these wells, in addition to not estimating the actual water consumption in the farms, and the lack of The use of modern agricultural methods, the most efficient in using water, to maximize the economic benefit of scarce water resources, and finally the high cost of other alternatives available for water resources, such as desalination or reuse of treated wastewater.

Al Dhaheri said: «Since the door was opened to register and license desalination plants on farms, more than 1130 small desalination plants using groundwater and desalination for agriculture have been registered and registered, and intensive programs have been implemented to calculate the pumping quantities of the underground reservoirs in the emirate, and to define the sectors used and distribute them geographically to regions The emirate, launching a crop calculation project, and developing an accurate program for calculating the actual water needs of plants. Accordingly, it is possible to license the quantities of water needed for farms accurately, and achieve the expected rationalization in the consumption of groundwater, according to the results of the crop calculator. ”

She pointed to the launch of a project to measure water consumption in palm irrigation, which revealed a number of important results and measurements regarding estimating rationalization in groundwater consumption after applying the regulations, including irrigation of seven million palm trees, with an average consumption of 75 gallons per day per tree, while the actual consumption does not exceed 45 gallons per day, to achieve an annual abundance or rationalization of 340 million cubic meters of water.

As for field crops, which include all kinds of vegetables (its area in the emirate reaches 2350 dunums), she said that the new project will achieve a rationalization rate of 30% of the current consumption, exceeding 150 million cubic meters of water annually.

Al Dhaheri reviewed the main tasks of the community to protect the wild environment, which included spreading environmental awareness towards wildlife through monitors, setting guidelines for wildlife users, ensuring that partners and segments of society comply with laws issued in this regard, and monitoring all practices that negatively affect the environment (waste, Hunting operations, cutting off plants and wild trees), pointing out that the sector is continuing to maintain the internal roads of the reserves, maintaining fences and parasols, in addition to providing fodder for wild animals, reporting sick and dead animals, and supervising guard gates for Viruses.

7 tasks for the Abu Dhabi environment

Sheikha Al Dhaheri enumerated the seven main tasks of the Environment Agency in Abu Dhabi in the field of environmental protection, and they were:

Conserving ground water.

- Air quality protection.

Reducing climate change.

Ensure integrated waste management.

Promote groundwater quality.

Land and soil protection.

- Strengthening the regulatory environmental framework and environmental compliance.

Al Dhaheri emphasized that the authority is constantly working to localize its cadres working in all fields, which included monitoring marine organisms, wild animals, technical laboratory and diving departments, research work and veterinary medicine departments.

4 challenges

Abu Dhabi's water resources face four challenges, including:

Increased demand for groundwater resources.

Not knowing the amount of disposal in the wells.

Failure to estimate actual water consumption on farms.

High cost of other alternatives available for water resources.

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A small desalination plantation plant that uses groundwater and desalination for agriculture.