Irrigation lowering groundwater levels

(MENAFN- Arab News) Minister of water and electricity abdullah al-hussayen has revealed that the council of ministers boosted the general organization for water desalination's (gowd) budget with an additional sr33 billion. this sum will be utilized to establish a water station with a capacity to generate 1.5 million cubic meters of water in the eastern province according to the minister

The minister made the statement on the sidelines of a workshop recently held in riyadh which aimed to enhance the relationship between government bodies and media representatives

Al-hussayen pointed out that groundwater levels are declining due to the implementation of various agricultural projects including wheat and feedstock farming and palm tree irrigation

He said that the gowd is working alongside the ministry of agriculture to address the problem.

He added that the later is conducting awareness campaigns to rationalize water consumption and is set to distribute water conservation equipment to nearly 3 million houses throughout the kingdom.

'water conservation devices are easy to install and will reduce water consumption by 30 percent" he added

Addressing the issue of strategic water storage projects the minister said: 'we have a number of projects under way; some are under construction while others are pending the tendering process.

He explained that the projects aim to curb the fluctuation of water supplies during maintenance work and in instances when the water pipelines malfunction

He added that the yanbu water station is in the third phase of construction and has a capacity to generate 550000 cubic meters of water

The minister also indicated that maintenance work carried out in al-tahliyah station will be conducted on a regular basis and will similarly be carried out in all water station units.

'maintenance work will be carried out on all 46 units of al-jubail station throughout the year on condition that four units will always be operating" he asserted.