دراسة المياه الجوفية المستقبلية في ضوء رؤية المملكة العربية السعودية 2030 م-1452 ه : أنموذج تطبيقي لمدينة الرياض

Abstract EN

In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the water sector had faced many challenges throughout the development process, as a result of the great increase in demand for groundwater.

The current withdrawal (1437 AH - 2016 AD) of groundwater aquifers is estimated at about (13.8) billion cubic meters, which are distributed among different regions of the Kingdom.

The research tackles the future of groundwater by studying the sources of renewable water, and how to maintain and develop it.

In addition, it also studies the non-renewable groundwater that is the main source for meeting the demands of (agricultural, municipal and industrial purposes) in the Kingdom as a whole and Riyadh region in specific, which was estimated at about (3419) million m3, that is 76% of the total water consumption from all sources of the measurement year 2014.

The need is expected to decrease in the future to about (2405) million m3 in 2020, while expectations for 2030 are more positive to meet the demands of municipal and industrial purposes at about (428) million m3 and (381) million m3 respectively.

Expectations to meet agricultural needs are about (2016) million m3, which shows that the decrease will drop to about 40% comparing to the measurement year 2014.

The research has also reviewed the challenges facing this sector and the expectations for volume of extraction and future prospects of the consumption of groundwater in the Riyadh region through the use of remote sensing techniques and geographical information systems to cover the most important drainage basins as a model for an important region of the Kingdom.

Some alternatives were indicated to maintain what is available, such as using treated water, reducing the amount used for agriculture and encouraging the private sector to adopt strategic partnerships to implement agricultural projects outside the kingdom (virtual water).