Search Results for: aquifer

Water Scarcity in MENA

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The MENA region is the most water scarce region of the world. The region is home to 6.3 percent of world’s population but has access to measly 1.4 percent of the world’s renewable fresh water. The average water availability per person in other geographical regions is about 7,000 m3/year, whereas water availability is merely 1,200 m3/person/year in the MENA region. The region has the highest per capita rates of freshwater extraction in the world (804 m3/year) and currently exploits over 75 percent of its renewable water resources. Due to burgeoning population and rapid economic growth, the per capita water availability … Continue reading →

Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture in Gaza: Perspectives

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There are multiple constraints which limit the development of more sustainable and resilient urban agriculture in the Gaza Strip (and the West Bank). Current urban development policies, land use classification systems and planning have ignored to recognise urban agriculture as a land use category and urban development strategy. Furthermore, there is still a lack of research on participatory urban agricultural development, improved production techniques, urban policies and strategies related to agricultural land use. Policy and institutional reform initiatives will be significant to enhance the potential of urban agriculture for food security, poverty alleviation and sustainable urbanisation. Agricultural Land Availability and … Continue reading →

Waste Management in Jeddah

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Jeddah, a major commercial hub in the Middle East, is the second largest city in Saudi Arabia. Solid waste management is a big problem in Jeddah as the city’s population is increasing at a rapid pace and has now touched 3.5 million. More than 5,000 tons of solid waste is produced every day and Jeddah municipal authorities are finding it increasingly hard to cope with the problem of urban waste. The management of solid waste in Jeddah begins with collection of wastes from bins scattered across residential and commercial areas. Wastes is collected and sent to transfer stations from where it … Continue reading →

The Amazing Benefits of Rainwater Harvesting

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Rainwater harvesting, or collection of rainfall, is not a new concept.  It is simply the collection of water in regions of the globe where there is frequent and regular rainfall. The collected water is stored for use at a later date. Typically, rainwater runs across the rooftops of buildings and is collected in rainwater tanks. This is very common in rural areas for local consumption. Water can also be collected in dams and reservoirs for community usage on a long-term basis. The collection of rainwater from the roofs of buildings can easily take place within our cities and towns. Initial … Continue reading →

Significance of Groundwater Atlas in Water Management

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Groundwater atlases are becoming a necessary resource for identifying natural reservoirs of our most precious natural resource – water.  A groundwater atlas for the USA was published was published by regions i.e. several states in the 1990s culminating in the 2000 release of the Groundwater Atlas for the U.S.A. It describes the location, extent as well as the geological and hydrological characteristics of aquifers across the United States. An African Groundwater Atlas, a project undertaken by the British Geological Survey, released the atlas in 2014 making groundwater information and data available across the globe. Abu Dhabi released its groundwater atlas … Continue reading →