Water use in the UAE :: Gulf News

An important article. Read the whole thing.

Some points covered:

o UAE has the world's highest per capita consumption of water of more than 500 litres per person per day
o water is priced below cost in the UAE, especially Abu Dhabi emirate.
o unmetered use of water for agriculture and forestry
o seawater intrusion into freshwater aquifers due to overdrawing the aquifer
o aquifers are drying up, some may soon be empty
o huge investment in desalination will be required to match consumption
o UAE population growth said to be the highest in the world (7 percent)
o switching from home production to importing crops that use a lot of water
o increasing salinity is affecting the range of crops that can be grown
o 17 different government authorities in the UAE look at water issues
o government buildings and malls that are not billed for water
o release of treated sewage water - it is currently released into the Gulf during the winter months rather into the ground