Groundwater salinity in Qatar is increasing by an alarming 5 percent per year because of over-exploitation, reported the Gulf Times on Wednesday.
The basic problem is the excessive pumping of groundwater by Qatari farms, said Mahmoud A Hashim of the water research section at the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Agriculture.
“The present extraction is estimated to be more than three times the average recharge. And this leads to lowering the water table and consequent intrusion of saline water horizontally from the sea and brackish water vertically from the underlying aquifer,” Hashim pointed out.
There is no surface water in Qatar and the main renewable water resource available for agriculture is groundwater. Treated sewage effluent (TSE) is used for irrigation of forage crops and public gardens.
Total water consumption is estimated at 436.51 million cubic meter(mcm), of which 303.25mcm is used for farming.
Of this, 267.85 mcm is drawn from the ground, while 35.4 mcm is TSE, said the paper.
The desalinated seawater used for domestic and industrial purpose is 130.75mcm, in addition to 2.5mcm of relatively high quality groundwater used for drinking in rural areas, Hashim explained.
Because of the increased salinity of groundwater, several farms have been abandoned, especially in the coastal areas.
The national water management and conservation policy has two main objectives: to improve the current practices of water use, and to increase water resources for agricultural uses, he said - Albawaba.com
