Water use in Saudi Arabia: Problems and policy implications

Saudi Arabia is an arid country with the poteiffial for acute water shortage. The demand for water has grown substantially against a scarce and dwindling water supply. This growing imbalance has been met mainly by increasing water supply, while water-demand management has been overlooked. The critical issue is how to reconcile the rapidly rising demand with scarce and depletable resources. This paper demonstrates and emphasizes the need and the urgency of adopting conservation and water-demand management programs to achieve an acceptable balance between water needs and availability. There is considerable scope for improving the efficiency of water use in various sectors. The government of Saudi Arabia must shift its emphasis from supply development to demand management to avoid wasteful, inefficient uses of critical and nonrenewable water resources. The paper describes the country's water resources, discusses some problems and their implications of water use, and suggests some possible conservation measures with more emphasis on the agricultural sector, the largest and most inefficient user of water.