UAE water crisis prompts dam building program

In an effort to alleviate water shortages and meet increasing demand the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has announced plans to construct 68 dams over the next five years.

Quoting Mohammed Mustafa Al-Mulla, Deputy Minister of Water and Soil Affairs, a report in UAE daily The Khaleej Times, said the ministry was also preparing a new law to protect the UAE's water resources in an effort to safeguard future demand.

No figure was given concerning the investment, which will bring the total number of dams in the country to 208.

Mr Al-Mulla also said that the country's industrial and agricultural sectors would be supplied with treated waste water rather than desalinated water in the future as part of an improved waste water management policy.