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Transforming pledges into performance
By Ben Nnamdi Emenyeonu


His Highness Sayyid Shabib bin Taimur al Said, adviser to His Majesty the Sultan on environmental affairs, inaugurating the Al Massarat Water Scheme. Minister of Regional Municipalities, Environment and Water Resources Dr Khamis bin Mubarak al Alawi and other
dignitaries look on Al Massarat Water Scheme is equipped with a state-of-the-art instrumentation and control system to measure abstractions, flows and water quality level at the production wells, pumping stations, reservoirs, and distribution pipelines

(note from ed: The Al Massarat water scheme covers the southern side of the Al Hajar mountains in northwest Oman)

AT the end of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) held in Johannesburg, South Africa, about one and a half years ago, world leaders went home vowing to reduce to a substantial degree, by the year 2015, the proportion of people living in sub-human conditions, in particular those living in abject poverty and those without access to safe drinking water or adequate sanitation.

Among the commentators who viewed the Summit resolutions with cynicism, a magazine cartoonist depicted two heads of state exchanging notes over the phone on how they were practically handling the task of halving the teeming population of miserable citizens in their countries. One of them was visibly elated as he revealed the magic formula with which he had succeeded in reducing the population of the poor masses in his country to about five per cent within six months: encouraging them to plunge into a ferocious war in a neighbouring country. The other head of state was busy taking notes.

Contrary to this hypothetically ruthless approach to the reduction of poverty, as it was depicted in the cartoon, a series of regional and international meetings have been held during which governments have exchanged notes of a different kind: programmes and projects they have launched since the Johannesburg Summit to improve the lives of their citizens.

At the most recent of such meetings held under the auspices of UNEP on the exotic island of Jeju, Korea, from March 29-31, the Global Ministerial Environment Forum showcased and shared concrete experiences of participating countries on national initiatives that can enhance the implementation of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as well as the targets of the World Summit on Sustainable development, with particular emphasis on water, sanitation, health and poverty.

One such initiative presented at the Forum as a solid evidence that the targets of WSSD, especially that of increasing access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation, can be met is the Al Massarat Water Scheme commissioned here in the Sultanate of Oman in May 2003. As part of a grand national water resources master plan covering the period 2000-2020, the Al Massarat Scheme whose exploratory studies started in 1993, is today a dream come true, thanks to the commitment of the Government of the Sultanate of Oman to the welfare of its people.

The scheme, which was executed at the cost of RO 40 million is located within an area of about 12,560 square kilometres in the Ad Dhahirah region of Oman. According to water resources authorities, it is not only the first of many large-scale municipal water supply networks fed solely by groundwater to be commissioned in Oman, but also one of the largest municipal groundwater schemes in the entire GCC countries.

It comprises three main well fields and 30 production boreholes. At the initial phase of the scheme, the target was to supply 115 thousand rural dwellers with about 8 million cubic metres per year of clean, safe drinking water. By the end of the 30-year design span of the project, about 215 thousand people would have been supplied with about 27.8 million cubic metres of potable water. Beyond the mere run-of-the-mill process of extracting groundwater, treating and distributing it to communities, the significance of this scheme lies in its adherence to the WSSD tenets of being operated without endangering the environment or jeopardising the chances of coming generations to have their own share of potable water.

In order to ensure the sustainability of the environment in general, and the water scheme in particular, and with due sensitivity to the arid conditions of the area, the project was designed with a number of control measures. At the production front, the scheme is equipped with a state-of-the-art instrumentation and control system to measure abstractions, flows and water quality level at the production wells, pumping stations, reservoirs, transmission and distribution pipelines.

Further down, at the user end, there is a provision for a wastewater collection system in each town or community whose population exceeds 10,000 people. Waste water collected from this system is treated and reused in agriculture, nourishment of ornamental trees and flowers on streets and highways, and re-vegetation of places suffering habitat loss. A central point of interest examined at the Forum was how projects such as the Al Massarat Scheme impact on environmental issues surrounding MDG and WSSD targets.

Relative to the situation in Oman, water experts had projected that over the next 15 years, the demand for water for domestic, municipal, commercial and industrial purposes in the country would increase substantially due to population growth, increased demand for agricultural produce, and the development of modern infrastructure. With the consumption rate far outstripping the resources currently available from groundwater, the experts had also warned that the country was obviously heading towards extreme water stress according to international indices. Thanks, however, to the comprehensive national plan for the management of water resources (2000-2020), exemplified by the Al Massarat scheme, the Sultanate of Oman has not only arrested the situation, but it can also proudly assert that.

n it ensures the provision of clean, safe, potable water to a significant population of the country, especially in rural communities, hitherto living in dire need of water, and thus minimises the dangers of water-borne diseases.
n by providing safe water for domestic and commercial purposes, it empowers and motivates residents of rural areas to lead a comfortable and productive life within their communities, thereby reducing the rush to urban centres and the accompanying stress on facilities and the environment.
n it contributes meaningfully to the fight to reduce hunger and poverty through the boosting of food and agriculture by the reuse of wastewater as provided for in the scheme.
n it ensures sanitation of the environment in the communities as well, and thus provides a buffer against diseases that feed on dirty and unhygienic surroundings.
n it provides support for local industrial enterprise towards diversifying the national economy away from the oil sector.

From the management perspective, Measures aimed at enhancing the sustainability of the scheme include a management strategy that stresses monitoring and control in order to minimise loss of water quantity and quality during transmission and distribution. Consumer fees are also be charged to ensure judicious use of water and maintenance of the scheme, while public awareness has been intensified on conservation of water. In addition to all these, government continues the exploration of additional sources to ensure that the Al Massarat and other existing water resources are not burdened to the point of premature exhaustion.

The 20-year water resources master plan is part of a comprehensive 2020 economic plan to be implemented through a series of five-year development periods, and the total investment in water resources development over the entire period is likely to exceed RO 1.5 billion. Under this plan, the recently commissioned Rimal Ash’ Sharqiyah Water Scheme, is a project that will yield about 12 billion cubic metres, providing 79 thousand people in the communities of the Sharqiyah region with potable water for more than 50 years.

Oman Observer, 11th April 2003