Ain-Al-Yaqeen - November 4, 2005

		November 4, 2005

CONTINUOUS DEVELOPMENTS IN OMAN'S WATER RESOURCES.
SULTAN QABOOS BIN SAID: WATER IS A NATIONAL WEALTH AND PRESERVING IT IS THE NATIONAL DUTY OF EACH INDIVIDUAL.
ENHANCING THE CAPACITY OF ALL OMANI PORTS.

The Sultanate of Oman lies in an arid region of the world, but due to its size and the configuration of its topography there are considerable variations of climatic conditions within the country. Only in the extreme south where the seaward facing slopes of the mountains and the coastal plain have the benefit of light summer monsoons extending from June to September is rainfall regular. In the north of Oman heavy and very localised thunderstorms occur over the Hajar range of mountains during the summer months, and in the winter occasional depressions sweeping across the Arabian Peninsula bring rain to the Interior and coastal regions. Nevertheless, rainfall is sparse and sporadic, and lengthy periods of drought are frequent. On rare occasions storms sweep into Oman from the Indian Ocean to produce large volumes of rainfall in Southern and Central regions.

The art of exploiting available water resources to the best advantage has been perfected by Omanis over the centuries as Sultan Qaboos bin Said said water is a national wealth and preserving it is the national duty of each individual. An example of this is the falaj (plur. aflaj) system, which was introduced into Oman about a thousand years ago, and used throughout the Interior as a means of irrigation. Water is tapped at the water table in the mountains and in wadis, and is led by man-made subterranean channels or by channels that skirt and cling to mountain sides to areas of settlement where at the surface it is used for irrigation and domestic purposes. Elsewhere, and especially in the coastal regions, water for irrigation is obtained from wells.

In recent years the balance achieved over the centuries has been upset by the introduction of modern methods of extracting subterranean sources of water and the subsequent increase in the areas under cultivation. Diesel and electrical pumps have replaced animal power as a means of raising water from wells. Other pressures on available water resources arise from increasing agricultural productivity, the increasing demands of a developing industrial sector, which was previously non-existent, and the mounting demands for domestic water as population and living standards rise. Desalinated sea water now meets an increasing proportion of the domestic requirement in some coastal regions.

Since the start of the renaissance in 1970 the Government, under the leadership of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, has been keenly aware of the need to conserve available water resources and to use them to the best advantage. In 1975, the Water Resources Council was formed. This was followed by the formation of a Public Authority for Water Resources, charged with identifying and assessing the natural water resources. In 1986, two Councils concerned with the environment and water resources were merged into the Council for the Conservation of the Environment and Water Resources, of which His Majesty the Sultan was the Chairman. In 1988 the country's water resources were declared "natural wealth" by Royal Decree. In 1989 it was decided that water was of such paramount importance that the Ministry of Water Resources (MWR) was established by Royal Decree. In January 1994, a Royal Decree was issued making the development and maintenance and the jurisdiction and records of dams and aflaj the responsibility of the Ministry of Water Resources.

The principal aim of the MWR is to conserve and develop the natural water resources of the Sultanate, and to initiate long-term policies for these resources to support the economic and social development of the country. Initial emphasis was given to the development of the infrastructure of the Ministry, regulation of water use, the expansion of the water monitoring network, and water resources assessment projects. More recently the Ministry has broadened its scope by giving priority to the assessment of projects that support expanding municipal demands, that can identify all possible new resources, that evaluate development schemes to ease water shortages in some areas, and also to the initiation of other water management projects. The Ministry has met the major challenge of water use regulation by a national campaign of well registration. A national well inventory was conducted confirming well registrations and collecting information required to support current permit policy and future policies for water usage.

Most of the water is brackish and fossil water, meaning that there is no, or very little, recharge to the aquifer in the present day, as it derives from a past age when the climate was much wetter, so any development has to be carefully controlled. The Ministry has made significant progress in planning and development of schemes to increase recharge, provide surface water storage and to improve aflaj water use efficiency. Recharge dams are designed to intercept flood flows in wadis, which would otherwise run to waste in the sea or inland into the desert. Water is released at a reduced rate of flow often through culverts in the dam and infiltrates the ground water aquifer beyond the dams in controlled flow. This recharged water moves gradually in the aquifer to replenish boreholes downstream of the dams.

Afalaj in the Sultanate of oman

Falaj is an ancient fundamental part of the Omani social society. It was the source of water for life and civilization and People of Oman are still linked with this system. Thus, the history of falaj in Oman is considered a vital part of the Omani history in general. Building of villages and cities in all over Oman was commenced with digging to construct falajs, the fact that led to the great migration of people from the arid Arabian Desert to Oman, which became the crossroads of many of migrations

Falaj a canal excavated from the ground or on the surface of a land, covered or bared to gather water from underground, springs, natural streams, or surface water, as well as to intercept and gather the rain water, so as to transfer them naturally from their sources in the canal by the gravity only towards Ashareea ( the first place where appear on the ground surface) without using equipments to raise it.

Falaj System: It is a system that consist of a falaj and a need area . It may consist of one falaj and one need area, or more than one falaj and need areas that linked with each other in a specific way water distribution

Umm Al Falaj The last Fardhah ( a vertical hole links between the underground canal of the falaj and the surface land) on the falaj, opposite to the water stream, from which water access to the canal begins ( to provide it or a part of it with water ). The water level should be from the highest point of Ashareea so that the falaj continuous running.

Assaid a branch that has the same characteristics of the falaj, helps in increasing the quantity of water accessing to the basic canal and connected with the falaj at fardhah the gathering place of assaids.

AlFardhah It is a vertical hole connected between the underground canal of the falaj and the surface land, through which regular operations of cleaning , removing of pressing substances, maintaining, repairing and following up for the falaj are carried out.

Ashareea it is the first place where water appear on the ground surface, or near to it as for Daoodiyah falaj.

Falaj Haie Its water is connected with Ashareea, it irrigates plants and also cover those falajs which suddenly stops running and connecting with AShareea due to the breakdown of the falaj and pressure of its canal.

Types of Falajs:

Aadiyah Falaj ( Daoodiyah)

It consists of underground tunnel of width around 0.5 meters and length around 0,5 meters. The utmost depth of this type of falaj reaches to 50 meters from ground surface. It is exists on the top of the plains in regions of Asharqiyah, Adakhiliyah, Adhahirah and AlBatinah. It is distinguished for its length which reach to 12 k.ms and water stream continues throughout the year. It forms about 45% of the total number of falajs in the Sultanate.

Ghailiyah Falaj

It consists of bared canals at most of its length and covered at small part. It usually exists at wadis streams. The depth does not exceed 4 meters from the surface of the land, where the length is about 100 m - 2 k.m. Since it depends on the water gathered at the ponds of the low areas of the wadis and the underground water, this type of falaj become dried during the years of scarce rains. It exists at several areas of north of Oman and forms 50% of the total number of falajs in the Sultanate.

Ainiyah ( Springs) Falaj

It consists of springs that flow from the tops of the mountains and run to bared canals. It is about 5-10 cm wide and about 5-15cm high. The Sultanate has many springs, the most known are Athowarah in Wilayat Nakhal, AlKasfah in Wilayat Arustaq and Razat in jabal AlQara, Governorate of Dhofar.

Falaj water Distribution System

When falaj water start flowing, it distributed between the people who participated in digging that falaj, based on a customary specific time known as Athar (sign). Since there were no watches at that time, signs during daylights were determined by the shadows, where at night they determined by the movements of the stars at the space. The fact which indicates the knowledge of the ancestors for the astronomy.

Dams In the Sultanate of Oman

Water is important for life and the pivot on which the comrehensive development turns. Taking into consideration that the Sultanate lie in the arid and semi-arid zone with irregular rainfall, the conservation of water and development of its resources was and will remain the main objective of the wise government. Every effort is made to develop and promote water resources methods to safeguard it through establishment of dams so that rain water could be used to replenish the groundwater and provide citizens with water for use in agricultural purposes and to supply water to aflaj instead of being lost to the sea or dissipated in the desert.

The Concept of Dams:

A dam is a structure built across a valley or depression with the purpose of impounding water. Dams are one of the oldest structures known to man. They are usually classified in terms of form, material and purpose.

Common types of dams are homogeneous or zoned earth fills, rock fills with earth core or concrete face, and concrete dams that depends upon gravity, arch or buttress resistance.

Numerous basic construction materials are used for erection of dams, in particular earth, concrete and rock. Brick, timber, metal, asphalt, plastic, rubber and more exotic materials are also used on a smaller scale. The choice of material is dictated mainly by economic considerations, since it is technically feasible to construct a dam from almost any material.

Dams may be further classified into storage dams- for water supply, irrigation, energy production, navigation and other purposes- flood protection dams, recharge dams, underground dams and special purpose dams. Some dams may combine two or more functions.

Topography, geology and climate are primary factors in weighting the comparative merits of dam types. The most appropriate site for a dam is where the valley is narrow, the geology is suitable for a foundation, and the upstream part of the valley is capable of storing large quantities of water.

The main parts of a dam include dam body, spillway and reservoir.

A spillway is a device for diverting or bypassing excess flood waters from a reservoir in order to prevent it from over tapping and so destroying the impounding embankment.

A reservoir is any form of water storage basin or artificial lake.

Third: Types of Dams:

1-Aquifer Recharges: These are usually established in the streams of the main wadis to temporarily restrain rain water to recharge the underground basins. In this context there now 18 of these dams in the various regions of the various regions of the Sultanate.

2- Surface Storing Dams: These are established in the mountain areas to intercept the wadi streams and restrain water which will be discharged into tanks to be distributed to residential quarters downstream of the dam. There are 40 of these dams in Oman.

3- Dams for Preventing Salt Water From The Sea: These are established to prevent sea water from intruding into residential and agricultural areas particularly in periods of high tide. Ther is only one dam of this type in wadi Ar Rasagh, Willayat Sur, in As Sharqiyah region.

Fourth: The Concept of Recharge:

In hot and arid climates, potential evaporation can exceed rainfall by several orders of magnitude. Surface storage in such a situation is impractical due to large water losses. The idea then emerged to store flood waters underground. This process is called artificial recharging or aquifer storage and retrieval.

The recharge is one of very few practical means of augmenting water resources in arid countries. Artificial recharge to underground storage yields several benefits. Groundwater storage capacity exceeds that of most surface structures; the method is relatively cheap; silting difficulties are largely avoided; water supplies are naturally purified for drinking purposes and evaporation losses are minimised.

In Oman, an additional and very important benefit of storing flood waters underground is the reduction of sea water intrusion in coastal areas, which has become a serious problem in many parts of the country, especially in Al Batinah plain.

The figure demonstrates the principle of a recharge dam scheme. A dam built across an alluvial channel stores water during the flood. The stored and clarified water is then released slowly, so it can infiltrate thick alluvium downstream of the dam and in time be withdrawn for use.

Contrary to popular belief, recharge mainly occurs downstream of the dam, and not in the reservoir itself. The reservoir bed becomes quickly sealed by silt so the recharge through it becomes low. However, water released from the reservoir has little sediment, and easily infiltrates into gravel aquifers down stream of the dam. The parameter which is perhaps the most difficult to quantify is the percentage recoverability of the increased recharge that is induced by the dam structure.

The dams are designed in such a way that the maximum discharge of outlets ensures that the total wetted contact area in the channel downstream is sufficient to infiltrate the total release volume. The rate of infiltration into the alluvium downstream therefore does not usually present a constraint in utilising all the available water for recharge.

Sultanate of Oman is the second largest country in the Arabian Gulf, with a total area of approximately 309,000 square kilometers (120,000 square miles). It occupies the South Eastern corner of the Arabian Gulf.

The Sultanate borders with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in the West, the Republic of Yemen in the South, the Straits of Hormuz in the North and the Arabian Sea in the East.

Its coastline stretches for 1,700 kilometers from the Straits of Hormuz in the North to the borders of the Republic of Yemen in the South.

With the accession of Sultan Qaboos Bin Said to power in July 1970, a new era was born, and in the past three decades, Oman's economy has grown dramatically under the wise and able leadership of His Majesty. Today, Oman has facilities that are comparable with the best in the world.

Oman's heavy reliance on oil has been reduced in a phased manner by diversifying the economy into non-oil sectors, and shifting investments from the public to the private sector. Also the core developmental sectors such as Natural Gas, Minerals, Agriculture, Fisheries, Industries and Tourism have been vastly improved.

The Port of Salalah is one of the largest and most prestigious of such projects in the Sultanate.

Salalah container terminal first began operating at Port Raysut (later renamed the Port of Salalah), in the Sultanate of Oman, in November 1998. The vision of the port was to build a world-class container terminal that would have a positive effect on the economy, employment rate and tourism of the country and to also position Oman to become a global trading partner.

The speed at which the project developed was extraordinary. From the signing of a contract to build the terminal in December 1996 and construction starting in April 1997, a world class container terminal with state of the art equipment was opened in November 1998 with 2 completed berths. Two further berths were delivered 3 months ahead of schedule in April 1999. In the few years since its inception, the Port has developed into one of the world's largest and most sophisticated container terminals.

Currently the port is one of the very few ports in the world capable of handling the largest container vessels and is already equipped to handle the next generation of vessels yet to be built.

Four berths are now fully operational along 1,236 m of quay, where vessels of up to 16m drafts can be accommodated. The port has invested in state-of-the-art equipment including 12 (Post and Super Post Panamax) Gantry Cranes, 38 Rubber Tired Gantry Cranes, 3 Tugs, 8 Reach Stackers & Top Loaders, 109 Yard Tractors, 137 Yard Chassis, Navis based Terminal Operating System, Vessel Tracking Systems and for Multi Cargo Consolidation, the port also offers Container Freight Station facilities.

Development of the container terminal continues and a US$ 356 Million expansion plan to construct a fifth and sixth berth increasing the port's capacity to approximately 4 million TEU's per annum is under way. It is anticipated that berth 5 will be operational in the 4th quarter of 2006 and berth 6 one year thereafter.

In addition to the container terminal, the port has facilities to handle most other types of cargo including general cargo, bulk oil, Roll On/Roll Off cargo and also caters to cruise vessels. There are facilities for over 980 refrigerated containers. The General Cargo Terminal has 11 berths ranging in length from 115 meters to 600 meters with drafts up to16 meters and has a dedicated oil pier.

Other comprehensive services rendered are Bunkering by BP Marine at competitive market levels as well as vessel and cargo inspections by Henderson International. BP also completed construction of a new Tank farm facility at the port during 2005.

Since purpose-built container ships first began to be made in the late 1960`s, their size has continued to grow. Starting at a modest 500 TEU capacity there is today, on the drawing board, a Dutch Malaccamax design for an 18,000 TEU vessel. Every port in the world has to keep pace with fewer but much larger shipping lines and the concentration of cargo into larger vessels that are able to utilize just a few key hub ports. Whilst the adage in transshipment "location, location, location" still holds true, it takes a port with location, technology, productivity, competitive tariffs and dynamic management to succeed today.

Port Sohar: Work was completed on Port Sohar in 2001. The Japanese Export and Import Bank has loaned RO96 million to finance the project. The first phase consisted of two liquid cargo berths, two bulk berths for an aluminium smelter, two cargo berths and a container berth. An additional berth was built for Government use. The harbour has a depth of 17m which is deep enough to accommodate the fifth generation of container vessels which are coming into service. The port is located close to the jetty for the copper smelting import and exports (Marsa Majees) and the Sohar Industrial Estate.

Port Sultan Qaboos, Oman's premier maritime gateway, enjoys a prime location in the politically stable Sultanate of Oman. Situated in a natural harbour 250 Kilometers south of the Strait of Hormuz on the Indian Ocean coast of the Arabian Peninsula. Port Sultan Qaboos' location makes it an ideal hub, not only for the Arabian Gulf but also the Indian Sub-continent and markets in East and South Africa.

The location of Port Sultan Qaboos offers considerable savings in steaming time when compared to other ports. The port's tariff compares very favorably with others across the region. The already impressive infrastructure, skilled manpower, fast and efficient handling operations and documentation clearance system in PSC will be further enhanced this year.

The aim of the port authority is to provide efficient and effective services to satisfy all customers and port users, make maximum use of resources, provide the best facilities to encourage import and export cargo and also attract transshipment, particularly container transshipment.

Port Sultan Qaboos' maintenance workshops equipped with a wide array of vehicles and equipment and specialized teams of engineers, mechanics and technicians, enable the Port to ensure the smooth running of Oman's premier maritime gateway.