Sunday 22 / December / 2024
Muscat: The Sultanate of Oman, represented by the Ministry of Agricultural Wealth, Fisheries and Water Resources (MAFWR) celebrates “Water for Peace” today, which falls on March 22 of each year.
The celebration comes as a reminder of the importance of water in all aspects of life, which requires the preservation of this wealth and the solidarity of everyone to make more efforts aimed at preserving and sustaining it.
The Sultanate is classified among the countries with limited water resources, which are located within the belt of arid and semi-arid regions, where rain is the main source of water resources and the average annual rainfall is 100 mm, and the amounts of surface water flow are estimated at about one billion and fifty million cubic meters per year. Part of it leaks Some of it goes to groundwater reservoirs, the bulk of which is lost to the sea and the desert.
Oman is making great efforts by constructing dams, maintaining aflaj, and establishing rain seeding stations to enhance groundwater reservoirs and reduce flood risks. The number of dams supervised by the Ministry of Agricultural Wealth, Fisheries and Water Resources is 186 dams with a total storage capacity of 346 million cubic metres, and 13 rain seeding stations.
Unconventional water sources from the 92 desalination plants produce a capacity of 1.65 million cubic meters per day. And sewage stations, which are estimated at about 67 stations, with an estimated production capacity of 309,000 cubic meters per day.
Water resources in the Sultanate cover needs of various municipal, industrial and agricultural sectors. The agricultural sector is the largest consumer of water at a rate of 80 percent. The number of falaj in all governorates of Oman is 4,173, and the percentage of modern irrigation systems reaches about 48 percent of the cultivated areas.
The Ministry of Agricultural Wealth, Fisheries and Water Resources seeks to update the systems and legislation for water management in the Sultanate of Oman with the changes and developments in population growth and their impact on providing energy needs, water supplies and food to achieve food and water security.
It is worth noting that more than 3 billion people around the world depend on water that crosses national borders, while only 24 countries have cooperation agreements on all their shared waters, and that the effects of climate change and population growth are one of the most prominent challenges within countries.
