Muscat Hosts GCC Water Conference

After throwing a few disgruntled looks at my fellow conference attendees who are holding full conversations while a speaker is at the podium, I settle into my seat in the Intercon Ballroom. Our introductory speaker from Spain unfortunately pursues a line of commentary on the remnants of water works built by Arabs in Andalusia. He undoubtedly hopes to highlight the ancient care for water resources originating in the Middle East, and therefore the roots of GCC concern for sustainable water use. I wince and wonder if those gathered here from around the Gulf appreciate the reminder that their empire once stretched to Spain but is now reduced to these small arid city-states.

I greatly enjoyed the token propaganda video that featured a rousing speech by the Sultan, Omani children walking through water, Omani children staring at a babbling brook, and the tagline: Water - security, health, life.

The diamonds in the rough of presentations were particularly enjoyable. I'll focus on two. 

Dr. Waleed Al Zabari focused on describing the GCC water status as a crisis. This may seem like a no-brainer, but oil abundant states have been spending large sums of money to increase supply (desalination) and subsidize water prices, meaning the GCC citizen does not feel an imminent water crisis. According to Dr. Al Zabari - and I agree - the region's governments must immediately discern how to sustainably use non-renewable (fossil) water. His cred went up in my eyes another notch when he clearly criticized the supply driven approaches that leaders have pursued, policies that have failed to achieve sustainable water use. While he commended the recent shift to demand management and conservation (even citing Oman's groundwater regulations, perhaps he was thinking of the un-implemented ones) he emphasized that officials must strive to treat the roots causes of unsustainable water use, not simply treating the symptoms. The three root issues and therefore policies that must be followed are: population policy change, agricultural policy change, and water management policy change. I have had an authoritarian streak lately, thinking - if only in my head - that there should be a worldwide cap on family size. As Dr. Al Zabari realizes, this first measure is more politically sensitive, and the last, least. But without the first two changes, water will never be used efficiently. As he underlined, the task we are facing is to supply water at minimum cost and maximum societal benefits. The only way to do this is to take water policy making out of that particular sector, and place it at the center of decision making. 

Douglas Owen's presentation focused on water management and technology, elaborating on many of the points articulated by Dr. Al Zabari. Owen emphasized the need to line up water management and supply options by cost (imagine a spectrum left to right – least to most expensive options – and then vertical bars representing how much water each of these options can reap). In this way, you enact policies from left to right, and save money by only resorting to highest cost projects if you have exhausted all cheaper options. Lower cost options that should receive more attention are fixing leakages in the water distribution network, optimizing agriculture, treating wastewater only to its necessary end (water for landscaping need not be as pure as treated water for crops), and desalinating brackish water. He ended with a call for on the importance of governance and improvement of institutions.

Take away themes

• Water issues must be at the center of policy discussions, rather than relegated to ministries with "water" in their title
• Cost-benefit analyses must be conducted to maximize the oil wealth that is being funneled into ventures to improve water use sustainability
• With expanding populations and increased urbanization, not planning now will blow up in officials' faces in the future
• Agriculture uses the most water, therefore agricultural policies must be reexamined.

All of this artwork I photographed from the hall outside the conference, done by local children. The top-most drawing was my favorite; the one neighbor is saying, "Water is a grace [from God] you idiot!"