Assessment of the dynamic balance between water supplies and demands in arid environments with policy options using WEAP

Abstract

The water situation in arid environments (with Kuwait as a case study) is fragile due to climate change; population growth; economic development; urbanization; irrational behaviors in consumption patterns; and water pollution which in their entirety threaten water security for such environments. The integrated water resources planning software (WEAP) was used to assess the actual water supply sustainability for Kuwait for 2000 to 2023 period. Then WEAP was used with realistic annual growth rates to project water demands over 2024 to 2035 in order to assess a suitable socio-economic future for Kuwait’s water supply sustainability. On average, the actual total water supply was found to 1,375 Mm3/yr disaggregated for domestic, industrial and agricultural sectors as 603 (44%), 75 (5%) and 697 (51%) Mm3/yr respectively. It was also found that each capita consumes for domestic and industrial purposes 214 m3/yr. It was found that annual growth rates of 2%, 2% and 3% are suitable to be used to project water requirements (demands) between 2024 and 2035 for domestic, industrial and agricultural sectors respectively. This will result in water shortage of 332 Mm3/yr during the period 2024 to 2035. Kuwait is called to implement strategic solutions of full reuse of treated wastewater and the virtual water concept for agricultural development purposes. This study demonstrates that when Kuwait implements these solutions, it can reduce CO2 emissions by 1.66 million tons saving $810 million annually. With the proper measures and policies, Kuwait can reduce their bulk water demand by 332 million cubic meters saving $1.627 billion dollars per year.