Saudi Arabia's National Center for Environmental Compliance (NCEC) recently organized the first practical workshop on "Monitoring and Surveillance of Groundwater and Surface Water Quality in the Kingdom" project. 

 

Specialists from 45 public, private, and non-profit sector entities, as well as several international experts from the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), attended the event.

 

During the workshop, international UN experts provided an in-depth overview of the importance of unified efforts to protect groundwater and surface-water quality and their impact on achieving water sustainability and preserving it as a natural resource.

 

NCEC Chief Executive Engineer Ali Al Ghamdi said the workshop marked the first step of the national initiative launched by the Centre last month. 

 

The initiative is aimed at monitoring and assessing water quality by collaborating with relevant stakeholders as a joint national team that aligns with national environmental and water strategies.

 

Eng Al Ghamdi said this comes as a response to the increasing environmental challenges facing the kingdom, particularly concerning the quality of groundwater and surface water. 

 

The goal is to establish a baseline for groundwater and surface water quality using best international practices and advanced technologies for monitoring and analyzing water quality in the future, he added. 

 

NCEC Executive Director (Monitoring Operations) Nadia Al Amoudi, said through this initiative it seeks to build a comprehensive database to develop specialized indicators for monitoring groundwater and surface water. 

 

"This will aid decision-makers in safeguarding water, a crucial environmental component used by both the government and private sectors," she noted.

 

NCEC, through a scientific study conducted to launch the national initiative to monitor and assess water quality in Saudi Arabia, had identified the targets of the initiative's launch by collecting over 2,000 samples of surface and groundwater from various regions of the kingdom. 

 

The aim is to evaluate current practices, document compliance levels with standards, address gaps, and gather necessary data for this initiative phase.

 

Nadia pointed out that the initiative focused on creating a unified reference framework for monitoring aquatic environments across the kingdom. 

 

This involves collaborating with relevant government sectors and leveraging research and studies related to water quality in Saudi Arabia, she added.-TradeArabia News Service