exploring water scarcity issues related to Saudi Arabia

1. Geography :Water Issues
By Khushi

2. Introduction to
SaudiArabia
 Saudi Arabia is a deserted country in the northern
hemisphere and its capital is Riyadh. It is located in south-
west Asia and is known as the biggest country of Arabia.
Saudi Arabia is an inhabitant country although its
population is 28.83 million.There aren’t many rivers or
lakes around Saudi Arabia as it is mostly surrounded by
desert.This leads to a lot of water issues and many people
there don’t have access to safe drinking water.The
weather there is also vey hot and dry which means that
people need more water to survive. Most of the water
problems are caused sustainably and physically.

3. Introduction
toAustralia
 Australia is a country and a continent in the southern
hemisphere. It is located in Oceania between the Indian
Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean. Australia is the
biggest island and the 6th largest country in the world.
The population ofAustralia is 23.13 million and its
capital is Canberra. It is a country with a lot of mountain
ranges and famous beaches. 20% of Australia is
deserted and the weather is very hot and dry.The main
water sources of Australia areThe Murray-Darling
Basin,The Great Artesian Basin, Lake Eyre andThe
Great Barrier Reef.There aren’t many water issues in
the coastal areas of Australia although water issues do
occur in central Australia. Most of the water problems
are caused economically.

4. Climatic
information
about Riyadh,
SaudiArabia
 The weather of Riyadh is variable throughout the year.
The temperature of Riyadh is very hot and dry during
most of the year.The temperature sharply increases
from January-March and is fairly consistent from June
to August.The maximum temperature during the year
is during June, July and August which is 43.7 degree
Celsius.The temperature then sharply drops during
October and it gets very cold during December and
January. It doesn’t rain for 4 months and then it rains
mostly during January, March and April. As Riyadh is
close to the equator the weather mostly stays hot and
dry.

5. Climatic graph : Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

6. Climatic
information
aboutAdelaide,
Australia
 The weather of Adelaide is variable throughout the
year.The temperature sharply increases fromAugust to
November and then stays consistent during December,
January and February.The maximum temperature is
during December, January and February which is 29.5
degree Celsius.The temperature then sharply drops
during March, April and May and it is very cold during
June and July. It rains a lot from June to August which is
about 79-69 mm. It doesn’t rain much during January
and February.

7. Climatic graph : Adelaide, Australia

8. Compare and
contrast
Adelaide,
Australia
Riyadh,
Saudi Arabia
Lowest minimum temperature (°C) 7.5 7
Highest minimum temperature (°C) (°C) 17 26
Lowest Maximum temperature (°C) 15 20
Highest (peak) maximum temperature (°C) 30 44
Warmest months December-February June-August
Coldest months June and July December-February
Hemisphere Southern Northern
Lowest amount of rainfall in a month (mm) 13 mm 0 mm
Months of lowest rainfall January-March June-October
Highest amount of rainfall in a month (mm) 80 mm 26mm
Months of highest rainfall June- August March and April
Key geographic features • Adelaide hills
• Torrens river
• Murray river
• Small lakes formed
from rainfall
• Hijaz mountain
ranges
Population of city 600,000-1,000,000 Over 1 million
Population of country 24 million 29 million

9. Water issues :
SaudiArabia
 The main water issue in Saudi Arabia is water scarcity. Saudi Arabia have no
permanent lakes or rivers and there is only very little rainfall.Aquifers are the
major source of water in Saudi Arabia. Many people in Saudi Arabia don’t have
access to safe drinking water.There is a shortage of water as there aren’t any
permanent rivers or lake and the water stress in Saudi Arabia continues to
increase.There is more demand for water nowadays.
 To solve this problem the SalineWater Conversion Corporation (SWCC) operates
27 desalination stations that produce more than three million cubic meters a day
of potable water.These plants provide more than 70 percent of the water used in
cities as well as industries. More than 200 dams collect an estimated 16 billion
cubic feet of runoff annually in their reservoirs.This water is used primarily for
agriculture and is distributed through thousands of miles of irrigation canals and
ditches to vast tracts of fertile land that were previously fallow. An expanding
source of water is the use of recycled water.The Kingdom aims to recycle as
much as 40 percent of the water used for domestic purposes in urban areas.
Recycled water is used for irrigation of farm fields and urban parks. Saudi Arabia
tries to resolve all water issues sustainably.They try to use more natural sources
to collect water and resolve the problems they are facing due to lack of water
availability.

10. Water issues :
Australia
 There aren’t many water issues in Australia as it receives sufficient
amount of rainfall although it can face some serious problems in
the future. As most of the main cities in Australia depend on the
Murray Darling Basin, they sometimes don’t get enough water
supply. If the water in the Murray river is not safe or is not
sufficient then most of the Australian people won’t get access to
clean drinking water. Sometimes when there is a drought in the
Murray Darling Basin, the people will suffer and there will be water
scarcity although there are some other rivers/lakes to provide
water but there are not as convenient as the Murray Darling Basin
and do not have sufficient water for everyone. Another big issue is
that the central Australia does not receive much rainfall and is very
dry, speciallyWestern Australia.As there isn’t much water in
Western Australia, people living there don’t have access to clean
water.
 Most of the water is stored in big dams that are all over Australia,
specially near Murray Darling Basin.This water is mostly used for
agriculture and household uses.Water is used very carefully and is
not wasted (most of the time).

11. By 2025Saudi
Arabia will be
withdrawing
more than 40%
of the total
availablewater
and it was
withdrawingthe
same amount of
water in 1995

12. 70% people in
SaudiArabia
wouldn’t have
enough water in
2030 if the water
issues are not
resolved and if
people don’t use
water carefully.

13. SaudiArabia have
physical water
scarcity whereas
Australia have
economic water
scarcity.

14. Future ofSaudi
Arabia and
Australia
Saudi Arabia
If Saudi Arabia continues to withdraw more than 40% of the available water then 70%
of the people in Saudi Arabia would not have access to safe drinking water. Saudi Arabia
also faces water scarcity because of physical (geographical) reasons. If they continue to
withdraw that much water and not use it carefully then it would be under water stress.
To solve this problem people shouldn’t use too much water or waste it.They should also
use water very carefully otherwise they won’t have access to water.There should be
more dams built in main cities and groundwater and rain water should be collected,
purified and then used.
Australia
If Australia will continue to withdraw less than 10% out of total available water
then 2030 not much water scarcity would be faced by Australia. Although
Australia wouldn’t have enough water for everyone by 2025 if they don’t use it
correctly. Australia would be facing water scarcity and water stress because of
economic reasons.To solve this problem there should be more employment in
every state and people should open more businesses and employ people.
People in Australia should also use water carefully and shouldn’t waste it.

15. Conclusion
Water should be used carefully and it
should not be wasted. It should only
be used for important uses.
Rainwater and groundwater should
be collected and more dams should
be built to store water.

16. Thank you