Saudi Arabia’s water sector turns scarcity into opportunity
https://arab.news/w9qz2
Green water refers to moisture held in soil and consumed by plants, while blue water describes water visible in lakes, rivers and aquifers. In Saudi Arabia, both are scarce. Yet despite this extreme aridity, the Kingdom has emerged as a global leader in water governance.
The UN-Water body recently recognized Saudi Arabia as the SDG 6 Country Acceleration Case Study for its progress on integrated water resource management, represented by SDG 6.5.1. That recognition is supported by measurable progress.
Between 2020 and 2023, the Kingdom’s score on this indicator jumped from 57 percent to 83 percent — a remarkable leap achieved not by changes in climate, but by the strength of its management, governance and long-term planning.
These improvements are enshrined in Vision 2030, which sets water security at the core of sustainable development.
Saudi Arabia’s journey of water innovation dates back more than a century. The late King Abdulaziz ordered the construction of Red Sea water condensing machines in the early 20th century, a prescient recognition that science and technology would be essential for survival.
Political commitment has remained constant; the Basic Law of Governance anchors the principle that resources must be developed for the benefit, security and prosperity of society, always within a sound scientific framework.
That principle now drives the National Water Strategy, which brings together 10 interlinked programs spanning policy, emergency planning, resource development, research and innovation.
The strategy has created a uniquely integrated and coordinated system, with clear institutional mandates and sustainable financial models.
This coherence has produced tangible results: Since the strategy’s launch, Saudi Arabia has nearly doubled drinking water production, doubled the capacity of its water conveyance and storage systems, and achieved clean water access for almost 100 percent of the population. At the same time, the reuse of water has nearly tripled.
Vision 2030 ensures that water will remain both a foundation of national resilience and an engine of future opportunity.
Arif Alkalali
Privatization is central to sustaining these gains. The Saudi Water Partnership Company now oversees investments worth SR47 billion ($12.5 billion) across the water supply chain, creating opportunities for innovation, efficiency and private-sector participation.
By driving down the cost of desalination and investing in clean energy, the sector has reduced its carbon footprint in line with the Kingdom’s pledge to achieve net zero by 2060.
Innovation underpins this transformation. Saudi Arabia is developing plans to reuse 90 percent of urban and industrial water, mining wastewater for precious metals, experimenting with lower-salinity seawater for agriculture, and deploying advanced groundwater metering.
Each of these steps reflects a broader ambition: To transform water scarcity into a platform for technological progress and economic opportunity.
Today, the Kingdom is the world’s largest producer of desalinated seawater, but its leadership goes beyond scale. It lies in the way policy, governance and innovation are combined to reframe challenges as opportunities.
In doing so, Saudi Arabia is not only quenching its blue-water thirst but also making its soils greener through extensive water reuse.
As the world increasingly recognizes water as a driver of security and economic growth, Saudi Arabia’s example shows how political will, strategic planning and investment can turn one of the harshest environments on earth into a laboratory of global solutions.
Vision 2030 ensures that water will remain both a foundation of national resilience and an engine of future opportunity.
• Arif Alkalali is a senior water consultant at the Saudi Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture
