In May 2026, Abu Dhabi allocated AED 11 billion to five public-private partnership projects covering dams, water storage, flood control systems, stormwater upgrades and urban landscaping. The allocation sits within an AED 55 billion pipeline of 24 projects that the Abu Dhabi Investment Office and the Abu Dhabi Projects and Infrastructure Centre launched on 11 May 2026, to come to market through 2026 and 2027.
Two storms in three years
The allocation comes after two heavy-rain events. On 20 April 2024 the Department of Municipalities and Transport described "unprecedented downpours" and formed a taskforce to study the impacts. Within a week of the late-March 2026 heavy rain, it managed more than 80 million m³ of rainwater, deploying more than 2,400 personnel, 850 pieces of equipment and 610 tankers.
Rain as a resource
The Department of Energy's Integrated Water Sector Strategy, launched on 28 November 2025, sets a target to capture 100 million m³ of rainwater a year. The UAE's average annual rainfall is under 100 mm, a National Center of Meteorology official said in January 2026.
Not a drought problem
Potable supply in Abu Dhabi is desalinated, and a 2010 study for the UAE's national climate communication found that climate change would add only about 3% to the emirate's water demand by 2050. Drought-type stress shows in groundwater instead, pumped at up to 20 times natural recharge, according to the Environment Agency in 2021.
Projections from 2010
The same 2010 study projected UAE temperatures rising 2.1 to 2.8 °C by 2050 and put between 722 km² and 3,904 km² of the emirate under water across 1 m to 9 m sea-level-rise scenarios. The 11 May 2026 announcement named project categories rather than individual projects.
Which water assets sit in the flood and sea-level zones, how the drainage standards were updated and which adaptation programmes are funded are set out in the brief. The full report, Climate Resilience: Drought and Flood Risk in Abu Dhabi, is available for USD 249. For a free overview, see Abu Dhabi City Snapshot.