The Impact of Land Use on Water Resources in the Gulf Cooperation Council Region

Basant Helal, Maram Ali, Tarig Ali (), Idowu Peter Odeleye, Maruf Mortula and Rahul Gawai
Additional contact information
Basant Helal: Master of Urban Planning Program, American University of Sharjah, Sharjah P.O. Box 26666, United Arab Emirates
Maram Ali: Master of Urban Planning Program, American University of Sharjah, Sharjah P.O. Box 26666, United Arab Emirates
Tarig Ali: Department of Civil Engineering, American University of Sharjah, Sharjah P.O. Box 26666, United Arab Emirates
Idowu Peter Odeleye: Master of Urban Planning Program, American University of Sharjah, Sharjah P.O. Box 26666, United Arab Emirates
Maruf Mortula: Department of Civil Engineering, American University of Sharjah, Sharjah P.O. Box 26666, United Arab Emirates
Rahul Gawai: Department of Civil Engineering, American University of Sharjah, Sharjah P.O. Box 26666, United Arab Emirates

Land, 2024, vol. 13, issue 7, 1-21

Abstract: The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries experience a harsh environment with low precipitation and high evaporation rates. This presents a significant challenge of water scarcity and water quality degradation which is exacerbated by land use practices. Agriculture, urbanization, and industrialization are impacting the management of water resources. This paper examines the state of water resources in the GCC countries and presents the impact of land use practices. A detailed analysis of the relationship between land use and groundwater is conducted with a focus on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), the Sultanate of Oman, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The results indicate a drop in agricultural activities, an increase in bare land and urban areas, depletion of groundwater, and water quality degradation. These changes were attributed to excessive agricultural and industrial uses, climate change, and rapid urbanization. The findings show the need for sustainable land use practices and water resources management. Further research addressing the impact of land use on water in Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain, and evaluating the effectiveness of policy, is essential.

Keywords: Gulf Cooperation Council; water resources; land use; water scarcity; groundwater depletion; urbanization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/7/925/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/7/925/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:13:y:2024:i:7:p:925-:d:1421571

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().