Soft Path Water Management in Dry and arid Regions of the Arabian Peninsula by Rainwater Harvesting

Abstract

Saudi Arabia has limited renewable water resources and the groundwater is the main source of water in Saudi Arabia which. With an arid climate, it receives about 50-100 mm/year of rainfall in Central, Eastern and Northern regions. There are few studies investigating the future regional climate change and some has predicted a decrease in precipitation but with extreme climate events such as flood and stormy rainfall events. Authors have evaluated the thirty-one years record of the rainfall in different parts of the Kingdom and found an increasing trend in annual maximum daily rainfalls at investigated locations signifying the more extreme rainfall evens and resulting floods of short-durations. A brief review of the Rainwater Harvesting and Management (RWHM) practices in the Arab region and the current use of rainwater in Saudi Arabia is presented and keeping in mind the climate impacts on the water resources, authors have suggested rooftop RWHM as a soft-path water management strategy to avoid short-term flooding problems in urban areas. Cooperation between government and non-government sectors is also recommended for successful implementations of small-scale, decentralized and cost-effective practice of RWHM at individual/community levels.