H.E. Engineer Mariam Mohammed Saeed Hareb, Acting Assistant Undersecretary of Water resources and Nature conservation Affairs, Ministry of Environment and Water, headed a team from the Ministry in conducting site inspections on current maintenance works on dams and barriers located in the central region. The team inspected dams Al Siji in Fujairah, Shawka and Al Almunia in Ras Al Khaimah and Fili in Sharjah. The site visits were part of the Ministry’s efforts in preparing for the coming rainy season and falls under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, to create, develop and maintain dams across remote areas in the country. The visit demonstrates the Ministry's efforts to check on the developments and the eventual completion of construction and maintenance work under its strategic direction to strengthen the integrated management of water resources and sustain and support the water reserves in the UAE.
According to H.E. Hareb, the Ministry has expressed its keenness in finding sustainable solutions towards water security challenges, especially in the efforts to adopt sustainable water resource strategies. The Ministry of Environment and Water is also looking towards intensifying its efforts in launching and implementing more strategies and initiatives that have been designed to improve water resource management, support strategic water reserves and increase space efficiency and sustainability of rainwater harvesting in order to enhance natural groundwater resources.
H.E. Hareb stressed on the importance of preserving water resources, which can be further reinforced through cooperating with the concerned authorities, particularly in efforts to complete projects and maintenance work before the next rainy season. He cited as an example the recent completion of the eight dams and breakers in Sakamkam and Shuwees last February 2015—These dams & breakers have a designed storage capcity estimated 453 thousand cubic meters of water approximately equal to100 million gallons. Theses dams will helps in improve water level and quality in the aquifer for agriculture development in the area, and protect Sakamkam area against flooding by rainwater which is witnessing the risks of floods that have hit the region frequently during the past few years.
The inspection tour began from Al Siji area in Fujairah, where a number of dams were examined such as Ashwani, Mamdouh and Safni. The team then headed to Shawka area in Ras Al Khaimah to check on the Al-Qassaa and Al-Kashish dams as well as following up with the implementation of development work of the Shawka Bridge. Afterwards, the team proceed to inspect the Towa and Rabka dams and the Al Almunia and Al Louss barriers in Al Almunia. The Ministry of Environment and Water delegation also checked on the safety and efficiency of the dams and the requirements needed in implementing leaching treatment in Kadra and Fili area. The next part of the tour included a visit to the Al Helou valley and Al Gail Kalba to preview the new projects for the construction of dam sites. The visit concluded in Sakamkam area to inspect the implementation of dam projects within His Highness the President of the UAE.
The construction of dams in Al Siji in Fujairah and Al-Qassaa in Ras Al Khaimah are one of the largest dams across the two emirates. Once completed, the capacity of the two dams will be equivalent to 1,000,000 cubic meters. The Ministry of Environment and Water has shared that dams contribute in the protection from floods and are working to improve the water situation in the groundwater reservoir in quantity and quality by increasing groundwater recharge rates. The dams also play a big role in soil conservation in agricultural areas, particularly from erosion and silt materials, which can be used and deposited in the lake dam to improve soil properties for agriculture. The number of dams and water barriers reached 132 in 2015.