Mohtar: For optimisation.

The GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) region should adopt a holistic approach to managing urban water supply, according to an expert at the Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute.
With population set to double in the Middle East and North African region over the next 40 years and per capita water availability projected to fall by more than 50% by 2050, the GCC is looking abroad for international best practice that can be adapted to meet the region’s growing demand for water.
“The biggest challenge for urban water management is the fact there is competition between sectors for this vital resource,” said Rabi Mohtar, a TEES endowed professor at Texas AM University and founding director of the Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute.
Because of continuous urban expansion, there is a growing demand for domestic water supply, which then competes with demand from the agriculture and energy sectors, he said, ahead of his presentation at the upcoming International Water Summit, which is part of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week and hosted by Masdar. This makes it crucial that water regulators, as well as solutions and service providers, adopt a holistic view that looks at water as part of a nexus with food and energy to optimise its use as a major primary resource, he said.
Although there is no blanket solution and what works in one geographic location may not work for another, Mohar, however, said the overall approach should be one that is at the holistic system level.
“Managing water in isolation is shortsighted and will not produce the desired long-term benefits. By leveraging it as part of the water-food-energy nexus, you are creating a healthy ecosystem in which one resource drives the other instead of competing with it,” he said.