MUSCAT: Oman’s water authorities have announced the revival of a long-stalled initiative to harness the water resources of Wadi Dayqah Dam in Muscat Governorate – a move designed to help augment potable water supplies, as well as meet the irrigation needs of local farmers.
Constructed in 2011, Wadi Dayqah Dam is presently the country’s biggest man-made reservoir with a capacity to hold an estimated 100 million cubic metres of rainwater runoff at full capacity. The dam site, located in the Wilayat of Qurayyat, is a major draw for tourists, boaters and other weekend visitors.
State-owned Nama Power and Water Procurement Co (PWP), the sole buyer of new power and potable water output, revealed recently that a proposal for the procurement of an Independent Water Project (IWP) that will tap Wadi Dayqah’s resources, is now back on the front-burner. It follows a request by Nama Water Services (formerly Oman Water & Wastewater Services Co) calling for a revival of the IWP initiative.
“Nama Water Services has requested PWP to resume the project development of Wadi Dhayqah IWP and requested to procure a capacity of 65,000 m3/d, provided that the project will supply 35,000 m3/d of desalinated water to Nama Water Services network, while the rest of the capacity will be supplied to the farmers for irrigation vwater in the local vicinity,” PWP stated in its recently published 7-Year Statement covering the power and water outlook for the 2023 – 2029 timeframe.
“PWP initiated the procurement in coordination with the Authority for Public Services Regulation (APSR) and relevant stakeholders,” PWP noted, adding that supplies to local farmers will be coordinated through the Ministry of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries Wealth and Water Resources.
A previous effort to procure a privately funded and operated water project was launched in 2019, with the PWP inviting interested developers to submit Expressions of Interest (EoIs). It centred on a proposal for the development of a surface water treatment plant with a net production capacity of 125,000 m3 per day. The IWP was proposed to be set up at a distance of about 6.5km from the reservoir and connected to the reservoir and the transmission network via new pipelines.
Further details, alongside a procurement timeframe, about the scaled-down version of the IWP will be disclosed in the next edition of the 7-Year Statement, which is scheduled to be published next year, PWP said.
When eventually operational, the Wadi Dayqah IWP will the first water project in the Sultanate of Oman that will use surface water as feedstock, as opposed to seawater, which is presently the principal resource for potable water production in desalination projects.
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