FUJAIRAH // Plans to build more dams to help prevent flash floods in the Northern Emirates have been welcomed by residents and farmers.
The 70 dams and canals announced by the Ministry of Public Works will mean a reliable water supply as well as preventing a repeat of the recent flash floods which killed several residents in the Northern Emirates.
Fatima Al Khuzaimi, a 45-year-old Emirati who lives in Merbeh, said: “The water flows from the nearby mountain and it seems that there is nothing to stop it. In the last storm, as soon as it started to rain the water was running through our house and into the sea.
“Having a dam or a canal that would keep the water away from us is what we all demand. We have started to hate winter and get upset when we know that the weather forecasters are predicting rainfall.”
Rashid Ali, a 38-year-old Emirati from Sakamkam, where seven dams have already been built, said that winter had now become a great season.
“Sakamkam used to drown in winter, our houses, roads, cars, everything, but after they constructed the dams we started to enjoy the rain,” Mr Ali said.
Saeed Jasem, a farmer from Kalba, feared that a lack of water would lead to him, and others like him, closing down their farms, so the news that dams would be built was music to his ears. “I spend thousands of dirhams each month on water for my three farms. It’s a huge load and soon I won’t be able to afford it any more,” he said.
“Building more dams would definitely solve the lack of water issue but the ministry should listen to us and consider our advice on where they should build them.”
The head of geology at UAE University, Dr Khalid Al Bloushi, said that the nature of the mountainous north and east of the country was such that more dams needed to be built.
“The mountains and valleys are a good spot to build dams to impound rainfall, reduce salinity and replenish groundwater supplies,” he said. “Our mountains are made of rocks that do not absorb the water, therefore we need to have more dams to keep and preserve rainwater. Without dams, rainfall will go through the valleys and into the sea.
“In mountains, dams should be constructed on top of the river stream, with high cement walls to prevent any stream flooding, which might affect nearby residential areas and cause damage.”
The 70 dams to be built are in addition to the existing 120. Of those, 18 were built between 2010 and last year in the eastern region, at a cost of Dh146 million. Seven were built in Sakamkam, nine in Dakob, Al Aem, Al Dhaid, Falag and Al Moalla, with one in Sharm and another in Al Bidya.
rhaza@thenational.ae
