Page 136 - IJES Special Issues for AIEC2016

36 © Sherif, Shalaby, and Altan 2016 | Towards the Second Sustainable City

cause major delays to the development process tion of gulf water for daily domestic and indus-
as the people refuse the changes formed by the trial use and irrigation. The city also depends on
government. bottled water as the main source of potable
water. This bottled water comes from natural
c. Sustainable Development Obstacles in ground water that has gone through basic
RAK treatment procedures, been tested, bottled, then
distributed and sold to consumers. The last
The sustainable development of RAK is a very water source in the emirate is treated waste-
complicated process, but it is not impossible. On water. This source is very limited in RAK,
the contrary, others may see it the perfect time although the government encourages the use of
to start such a development process, taking into this treated water. Currently, there is no plan to
consideration the potential the city has. To generalize the practice of wastewater treat-
develop a good idea about the development ment, although it is considered the optimum
process, an analysis of the main obstacles that alternative for the use of fresh water for
may delay this process should be conducted. irrigation and industrial uses. Irrigation and
industry consume around 60% of the total fresh
i. Environmentally: water demands worldwide. If treated waste-
water can replace around 50% of these
The lack of natural resources in the emirate is demands, then huge savings in the fresh water
the main threat to any development that may demands will be achieved. In summary, the UAE
take place in RAK. The study will investigate the State of the Water Report 2011 prepared by the
water scarcity and the energy shortage issues. Ministry of Environment and Water stated that
Moreover, the loss of natural biodiversity is in 2009, the total UAE renewable fresh water
more likely to happen since the city has no clear resources is estimated to be 150 MCM/year or
biodiversity enhancement plan or a clear infra- less where the fresh water demand was 4.5
structure strategy. BCM in 2009, representing 51% from ground
water, 40% from desalinated water, and 9%
Lack of Natural Resources from treated wastewater.

The term “natural resources” in this study Figure 7: Water resources in the UAE (MOENR,
addresses the basic resources required for 2015)
sustainable development, such as water and
energy. Water is the main component of life.
Throughout ancient civilizations, great empires
were built on a source of water. RAK, as a part
of the UAE, is located in an arid area of the
world. The main characteristics of these areas
are severe shortage of natural fresh water
resources due to the irregular and limited
rainfall, high evaporation rates, and the lack of
fresh water resources like rivers and lakes. The
annual mean rainfall is around 120 mm and the
evaporation rate is 8.2 (UAE State of the Water
Report, 2011). General factors that affect water
scarcity are also presented in RAK and include
population growth, irresponsible use of water
resources, water pollution, drought caused by
changes in climatic conditions, industrial
development, and life standard enhancement.
These factors affect the water resource directly
and increase the demands on fresh water.

As a natural result of this huge shortage of
water, the city depends mainly on the desalina-

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