From Crisis to Resilience: Navigating Water Scarcity and Infrastructure Transformation in the Middle East
Water scarcity in the Middle East is no longer a future concern. It is an everyday reality shaping how people live, how economies grow, and how governments plan for the years ahead. With rapid urbanisation, rising demand, and changing weather patterns, the region’s limited water resources are under immense pressure.
On top of this, political factors often complicate access, making water not only a sustainability issue but also one of stability.
For many years, the answer has been to expand supply through large desalination plants and centralised networks. While these projects eased shortages, they also created new dependencies on energy-intensive systems. As challenges mount, the region must now move from temporary relief to long-term resilience.
Resilience means building water systems that are adaptive, circular, and cooperative. It requires moving beyond crisis management to strategies that safeguard water security for future generations. Most importantly, it means treating water as a strategic resource that underpins prosperity, stability, and climate readiness.
Strengthening Resilience within a Geopolitical Landscape
Water in the GCC is tied to politics because many countries depend on shared rivers and aquifers. When flows are diverted upstream, those downstream have little control. Reducing this exposure starts with supplies managed at home. Saudi Arabia’s National Water Strategy sets the direction for a more self-reliant system, with a goal for treated wastewater to cover about 70 per cent of irrigation demand by 2030. Similarly, in the UAE, decentralised treatment is being used to serve new districts alongside city networks, giving authorities more control over supply. Specifically, in Dubai, the emirate’s long-running reclamation programme reports about 90 percent water reuse today, with a goal of full reuse by 2030.
These efforts reduce political risk, but they are only part of the picture. Resilience also depends on how well existing water is managed within national systems, and this is where efficiency plays a decisive role.
Turning Efficiency into a Resilience Dividend
Efficiency is often seen as a way to cut costs, but in the Middle East, it is also a way to build reserves. Every litre saved today strengthens tomorrow’s resilience. Non-revenue water, lost through leaks, poor metering, or theft, can reach up to 40 percent of supply in some GCC networks, which means millions of litres never reach homes, farms, or businesses. To address these losses, utilities are turning to digital leak detection that flags problems in real time and predictive maintenance that fixes weaknesses before they fail. Together, these measures help recover water that would otherwise be wasted, and they build a buffer for the next shock.
Still, efficiency alone cannot secure the future. Savings need to be reinforced by infrastructure that is designed not just to expand supply, but to reuse, recover, and adapt.
Transforming Infrastructure, Not Just Expanding It
Wastewater reuse is at the heart of this shift. In Abu Dhabi, the Abu Dhabi Sustainable Water Solutions Company (ADSWS) programme reached 80 percent recycled water utilisation in 2023, producing around 909,000 m³/day for agriculture, cooling, and industry. This shows how treated wastewater, once considered waste, is now becoming a reliable renewable source of supply.
At the same time, digital platforms powered by AI give operators foresight to anticipate demand, detect leaks early, and optimise supply. In Abu Dhabi, these tools are already helping utilities manage growth while reducing losses. By combining reuse with smarter management, the GCC can move beyond expansion to infrastructure that is efficient, resilient, and prepared for the future.
However, even the most advanced national systems have limits, because water challenges rarely stop at national borders. Aquifers, rivers, and climate impacts are shared across the region, and so must be the solutions.
Collaboration Across Borders
That is why regional co-operation is essential. Shared data platforms could give governments and utilities a common base for planning and response, ensuring that countries are not working in isolation. The GCC’s Unified Water Strategy (2016–2035) is a step in this direction, but it will only have an impact if matched by active collaboration on the ground.
Partnerships also matter. We are already seeing this in motion in Saudi Arabia, where public-private models are accelerating large-scale infrastructure projects, while in the UAE, collaboration between utilities and technology providers is fast-tracking advanced solutions. For example, we partnered with Eastern Province Municipality in Jubail, where Grundfos helped upgrade a critical stormwater station through co-development and technology transfer. Such alliances ensure that progress continues regardless of political cycles, turning co-operation into a practical tool for stability and growth.
A GCC Path Forward
The Middle East now has a choice. It can continue reacting to each crisis as it comes, or it can embed resilience at every level of water management. That means building politically secure supplies, recovering losses through efficiency, designing infrastructure that reuses and adapts, and embedding trust across borders.
If the GCC continues to lead in these areas, it can safeguard water for its people, stabilise its economies, and set a global example of how water-scarce regions can turn scarcity into strength.
