Construction of Dams Construction of 14 flood protection dams, 32 groundwater recharge dams and more than 60 storage dams in various region and governorates of the Sultanate. Since their implementation and until June 2010 the dams retained about 1235 million cubic meters of water. 57% of this quantity recharged the groundwater aquifers. Implementation of the first phase of the biggest storage dam (also act as flood protection dam)in the Sultanate (Wadi Dayqah in Wilayat Quraiyat) and Commencing the Work of building the biggest dam for flood protection in Wilayat Salalah. Studying a number of options with regard to flood protection dams in some of the regions exposed to floods danger.
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Construction of Dams Construction of 14 flood protection dams, 32
groundwater recharge dams and more than 60 storagedams in various region and governorates of the Sultanate.
Since their implementation and until June 2010 the damsretained about 1235 million cubic meters of water. 57% ofthis quantity recharged the groundwater aquifers.
Implementation of the first phase of the biggest storagedam (also act as flood protection dam)in the Sultanate(Wadi Dayqah in Wilayat Quraiyat) and Commencing theWork of building the biggest dam for flood protection inWilayat Salalah.
Studying a number of options with regard to floodprotection dams in some of the regions exposed tofloods danger.
Recharge Dam
Storage Dam
Flood Protection Dam
Improvement of Drainage Systems The drainage system in many cities of the country are either
poor managed or not available. Actions have been taken to clean the available drainage and
open the wadi channels. The Muscat Municipality has just completed a master plan
on drainage for the greater Muscat area.
Flood Warning Systems The Ministry has
recognized the need forthe early flood warningsystems and consultedseveral organizations.
Installation of telemetrystations using GSM andsatellite communication.
Plans are on the way forinstallation of the earlyflood warning systems.
Other Water Resources ProblemsThe most noticeable water resources problems in
Oman are:
• Drought• Desertification• Salinity Intrusion• Pollution (mining activities, filling stations
leakage)• Over Abstraction of Groundwater• Wastewater Disposal
Because Oman lies at the arid and semi arid areas drought is common.
Lowering of water table on wells and aflaj discharge clearly shows the effect of over abstraction which lead to drought.
Reported Oman droughts period are:
DesertificationDesertification is defined as land degradation
in productivity or suitability for differentpurposes and occur in dry areas and semi-aridas a result of climatic factors and humanactivities of various overuse of the land, whichmight include: reuse of agriculture,earthmoving, cutting of trees and over grazing.
Desertification problems in Oman aremanifested in salinization, land degradationdue to overgrazing (especially in the Dhofarmountains areas), wind and water erosion andsand encroachment.
Salinity Intrusion Occur near costal areas due
to over pumping during the last three decades.
Studies (2005) showed that 13,000 hectare were degraded in the last 5 year from a total of 84,000 hectare.(15% of total Surveyed area).
Deterioration in water quality.
7% of the wells in the area were abandoned due to either salinization or dryness.
Wastewater Disposal Leaking septic tanks are major sources of groundwater
pollution in Oman. The presence of sewage works and the associated
sewage system present a risk of both bacteriological and chemical contamination of groundwater sources.
In Oman, wastewater piped collection system covered less than 50% of urbanized areas.
The government has increased its effort on waste water treatment and now all the gardens and road trees and grass in Muscat are irrigated using treated water.
Conclusion and Recommendations Floods are natural unavoidable events, therefore we all
should accept and develop the concept of “Living withFloods”.
The future vision of the country towards waterresources should focus on current water resourcesproblems and challenges.
The following action are recommended: Application of integrated flood management
including structural and non structural floodmeasures.
Continue…. Continue with the government efforts on flood
protection and flood risk measures. Further work is recommended on upgrading of the
existing monitoring network by automate the dataprocessing, provision of real-time data transmissionand network modeling.
Determine the wadi hydrology parameters in aridclimate including (topography, morphology, landcover, climate etc.) for representative wadis.
Increase the reuse of treated waste water. Reduce consumption by controlling water losses.
Continue…. Training and Public awareness ought to be strengthened in
the future to improve the way we deal with floods and useof water efficiently.
To reduce the impact of desertification the government hasalready taken action on controlled grazing and reduce thenumber of camels and cattle further action are needed tocontrol the abstraction of groundwater especially onagriculture use.
Encourage more scientific research to improve the currentknowledge base on water resources and coping with thewater resources problems.
Strengthen the international cooperation throughexchange of expertise and information.
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