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Speakers
Session Chair
Prof. Matthew McCabe, Professor of Remote Sensing and Water Security and Director of the Climate & Livability Initiative, KAUST
Keynotes
Prof. Yoshihide Wada, Program Director of the Biodiversity and Natural Resources (BNR) Program, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis & Chair Professor of Global Water and Food Security at the Department of Physical Geography, Utrecht University
Dr. Abdullah Al-Rajhi, Director of the National Center for Agricultural Technology, King Abdullah City for Science and Technology
Dr. Jalal Basahi, Director of the National Water Research Center, Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture (MEWA)
Dr. Gustavo Diaz, Agriculture and Water Resources Specialist and Consultant, World Bank, UNDP, FAO, MEWA
Key messages
1. Food security is water security is energy security – these elements cannot be separated and siloed interventions in any one of these areas will not be effective.
2. Groundwater levels in all major aquifers are depleting at rapid rates across the KSA. [7]
3. KSA is the largest producer and largest consumer of oil in the world, and devotes a substantial portion of that oil towards desalination, which makes up only 10% of its total potable water supply. [8]
4. The water sector is challenged by extreme water scarcity and weak water management.
5. The agricultural sector uses a majority of the water resources in the KSA, [9] and uses these resources inefficiently. [10]
6. The contribution of the agricultural sector to the national economy [11] does not justify the amount of water that is allocated to it.
7. Regaining control of water resources in the KSA depends on the licensing of water abstractions.
8. The water sector is challenged by a shortage of skilled labor and lack of financial management.
9. Inadequate planning has resulted in a lack of water sector readiness for risk management.
10. The absence of institutional and regulatory reforms inhibits the efficacy of water sector governance and participation of the private sector.
Recommendations
Recommendations
1. Develop and implement a water entitlement and enforcement scheme which includes water resource registries and monitoring programs as soon as possible.
2. Optimize crop mixes to maximize the value of water being used in agriculture in the KSA.
3. Invest in controlled environment agriculture systems and precision agriculture to reduce water usage in the agricultural sector.
4.Establish communication protocols among government agencies that deal with water resources.
5. License water abstraction in agriculture, and charge the appropriate amount for use of water.
6. Link water abstraction licenses in agriculture with prescribed crops to manage both water and food.
7. Incentivize farmers to adopt precision irrigation methods that minimize water use.
8. Limit export of food products – exporting food is exporting water.
9. Tie water licenses to food production licenses
10. Digitize the agricultural sector, which will include information about water resources and utilization – you cannot manage what you do not measure.
[7] Amount of drawdown ranges from 1 meter per year in the southern Najran region to 3.8 meters per year in the northern Al-Qaseem region, wherein agricultural production is most intensive (National Center for Water Research).
[8] 20% of oil production is used domestically in the KSA, and half of that goes toward desalination (National Center for Water Research).
[9] Agriculture accounts for 84% of total water consumption in the KSA as of 2017, and 67% of total agricultural water use is used for fodder crops (Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture (MEWA)).
[10] The KSA agricultural sector achieves 50% water use efficiency, compared to the global average of 75% as of 2018 (FAO).
[11] The agricultural sector contributed only 2.5% to the KSA GDP in 2020 (World Bank).
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