Environmental and management problems in the hydrology of the United Arab Emirates

The dissertation examines four aspects of the environmental and management problems in the hydrology of the UAE. The first part of this dissertation is an analysis of water usage in the Fujirah Emirate. The unbalanced water budget has led to the depletion and contamination of fresh water (groundwater). Quantitative analysis shows the inadequacy of aquifer recharge even under optimal conditions. The economic methods to reduce the current water deficit range from a reduction in agricultural demands (irrigated area, changes in irrigation methods, and in crop selection), the introduction of block rates for domestic, agricultural and greater use of treated water.; The Fujirah study underlined the need for legislative control of water resources, and in part II basic Islamic law insofar as it affects groundwater is examined as the first step in the legislative process consistent with constitutional requirements. In addition to general groundwater regulations, specific actions involving potential point source and non-point source pollution as landfill, injection of fluid, use of fertilizers are treated. Once legislation is in place water management should use economic factors as a means of ensuring compliance. Factors such as area of irrigation, crop selection are beyond the scope of purely legislative action, but are clearly affected by economic considerations.; Protection of groundwater depends heavily on the hydrology of the aquifer. Part III of this dissertation examines the principal freshwater aquifers in the UAE, their distribution and the current use. Questions of saltwater intrusion, overpumping and recharge lead to considerations of aquifer storage and retrieval not only as practical solution but one which will help to preserve the aquifers and retard salt water intrusion. In the UAE it is the Quaternary aquifer which is the largest source of freshwater.; Contamination by heavy metals is examined in Part IV. Although discharge of wastewater contaminated by heavy metals into Dubai creek has been banned, it is still possible to locate the source of the pollutants from their concentration in sediments around the outfalls where waste water formerly discharged. The magnitude of the concentration may be determined by comparison with concentrations in relatively unpolluted creeks such as Umm Al Gawain and Ras al Khaimah.; The effectiveness of the Dubai regulation is clear from the differences in concentrations in Sharjah creek where discharge is not regulated.