The Stream, October 14: Saudi Arabia Building Its Largest Water-Storage Project Ever

Water Supply
Saudi Arabia’s national water company is beginning work on the country’s largest water storage project, which will provide water to the capital city of Riyadh, Bloomberg News reported. The project will eventually hold more than 10 million cubic meters of water, and is part of a $US 13.5 billion national effort to invest in water resources.

The water utility industry has so far been slow to adopt new technology aimed at improving water supply, quality and efficiency due to concerns about reliability and safety, Reuters reported. Industry experts, however, say this could be changing as water becomes scarcer, and expect startups that focus on data analytics to get more business.

Drought
The disappearance of a large portion of Central Asia’s Aral Sea was not an accident, but rather the result of the way the sea’s water is valued, National Geographic Newswatch reported. The sea’s water has historically been valued more for the irrigation of cotton farms than for the services it provides within the sea itself.

Runoff water flowing through Los Angeles may be amounting to more than 100 million gallons each day, according to University of California – Los Angeles researchers, NBC Los Angeles reported. City and state water managers are looking at ways to capture this runoff to help alleviate water stress created by California’s historic drought.

Codi Kozacek

A news correspondent for Circle of Blue based out of Hawaii. She writes The Stream, Circle of Blue’s daily digest of international water news trends. Her interests include food security, ecology and the Great Lakes.
Contact Codi Kozacek