Management of groundwater resources under various irrigation water use scenarios in Saudi Arabia

The total irrigated areas in Saudi Arabia have increased from about 0.5 million ha in 1975 to about 1.61 million ha in 1992, contributing to the food production and security. Large areas of desert lands have been developed into highly productive farms. Modern and advanced technologies have been utilized in farming and irrigation practices. The Kingdom has achieved self-sufficiency in five agricultural commodities: wheat; date palm; eggs; poultry; and dairy products. In 1992, irrigation water demand was about 22.933 billion m³, and the actual water consumption for agriculture was about 29.82 billion m³; or 94% of the total water consumption in the country. Adoption of advanced techniques for reducing irrigation demand and improving of groundwater management is essential for maintaining long-term productivity and quality of the aquifers in the Kingdom. The recent reduction of the Government's price support to wheat farmers has several positive goals such as: diversifying the agricultural production to other types of crops needed, adjusting of the wheat production to annual national consumption level and reducing total irrigation water consumption by about 25% or by 7.42 billion m³/year. The groundwater conditions in terms of quality and levels, will be improved especially in heavy pumping areas such as Qaseem, Kharj, and Wadi Ad-Dawasir. Different cultivation scenarios, discussed in this paper, indicate that expanding the areas of other crops in addition to the remaining wheat areas will still result in the saving of considerable amounts of water. Improving irrigation water management will result in another major reduction in irrigation water consumption. These measures include the effective use of water scheduling models, enhancement of irrigation efficiency at the farm level, utilization of advanced irrigation methods, and changing the cropping pattern among agricultural regions for lower crop water demands.