Dr.Mohammed Saleh Al.Ansari

The Management of Water Resources in the Kingdom of Bahrain

April 8, 2010

Mohammed.AlAnsari and Hana Al.Maskati

paper presented in Kuwait – JCCP_GCC 2003

Making availability of adequate quantity and good quality of potable water is an imperative priority for the Kingdom of Bahrain. Till late seventies, the Kingdom’s water requirements were met entirely by ground water from Dammam aquifer. With the view to conserve the scarce water resources, the government directed its effort to develop the non-conventional sources of water by constructing adesalination plant in 1974.

 More plants were added subsequently and continue to be added. A sewage treatment plant was built in the eighties to meet the agricultural demands.  However, the socio-economic demand of the ever-increasing population combined with the ceiling on abstraction of ground water imposed deficiencies in water budget resulting water deficit of 110 Mm3/year in millennium.

With the surge in consumption due to population and development, the quality of the water in fresh water aquifers exceeded 3000 ppm in most areas of Kingdom which renders this source of water as unacceptable for direct use. The Kingdom of Bahrain contemplates to add extra desalination capacities and renovate the others.

The contemporary challenges in the management of water in the Kingdom of Bahrain encompass several unique and interdependent factors. Of importance, the wobbly balance between water supply and demand, a realization of waste control, and assurance of the adequacy of water excellence.

This paper discusses critically the availability and demand for water resources in Kingdom of Bahrain with special focus on the sectorial uses.  Further information about the desalination problems and remedy. Control measures are suggested to restore the ground water resources.  click for the paper

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