Jeddah's water authority is working on a project to ensure the city has a strategic water reserve of six million cubic meters to meet the growing demand for water, especially during a crisis. This is according to Fehied Bin Fahd Al-Sharif, Governor of the Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC), who made the comments in an interview with Okaz recently. He said the board of directors of the National Company for Water has already approved the implementation of the strategic water reserve project for Jeddah. The first phase of the project will be carried out in Bariman in Jeddah and the second phase on the Old Makkah Expressway. Al-Sharif said the strategic water reserve project in Riyadh is three million cubic meters. Reserve projects in Riyadh and other parts of the Kingdom are being carried out under the supervision of the Ministry of Water and Electricity. He said government considers water security a key issue for the country. A study is currently being carried out to determine the water requirement for the Kingdom's inhabitants until the year 2030. The study will determine the number and cost of future water projects, he added. He said a total of 8.3 million cubic meters of water is needed all over the Kingdom until the year 2025. He said that while some existing water plants were outdated, new water plants were going to be constructed to ensure that supply meets demand. He added that the third phase of the water conveying system from the Shoaiba Plant in Makkah will be completed before the end of the year. Meanwhile, Al-Sharif said that the ongoing privatization taking place at the corporation will not affect the rights and concessions of the corporation's employees. Employees will be transferred to the newly privatized companies with their service benefits intact and at their current salaries. In another development, he said that action is being taken by the SWCC to reduce the gases from the desalination plant at the Corniche in Jeddah. Al-Sharif said residents will no longer have to suffer because SR302 million has been allocated to reduce the pollution level to below the limit allowed by the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment.
