The United Arab Emirates extracts around 2.3 billion m³ of groundwater a year, about 15 times its renewable internal freshwater resources of 0.15 billion m³ in 2022. The extraction figure is the official government portal's undated estimate. Groundwater still provides around 46% of national water supply and 93% of the irrigation water used on farms.
Abu Dhabi's aquifers are mostly salty
In Abu Dhabi, groundwater makes up 60% of the water consumed in the emirate, mostly for irrigation. The Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi classes 79% of it as highly saline and 18% as medium brackish; only 3% is fresh. Extraction runs at 24 times recharge. A 2022 policy aims to bring that down to 16 times by 2030 and to cut abstraction by up to 650 million m³ over the same period.
Moving farms to manufactured water
The national target is to cut water supplied to agriculture from 8.2 million m³ a day in 2016 to 7.1 million m³ a day by 2036. In the Northern Emirates, Etihad Water and Electricity has offered farms a reduced water tariff of 1.5 to 2.5 fils per gallon since January 2022, and more than 1,300 farmers have used it. Farm electricity there is supported at 7.5 fils per kWh, against an actual cost of 28 to 33 fils.
Saving what is left for emergencies
Abu Dhabi now treats groundwater as a strategic reserve. Its Makhzan Al Kheir scheme had stored 26 million m³ of water in a shallow aquifer by 2021, enough to supply 180,000 m³ a day for up to 90 days.
What the full report answers
How far has abstraction actually fallen against the 2030 targets? What does shifting farms to desalinated water mean for energy, subsidy and capacity planning? Which other emirates have set abstraction limits, and what would change the outlook to 2036?
The full report, United Arab Emirates Water Intelligence Report, is available for USD 999 at https://ourfuturewaterintelligence.com/reports/united-arab-emirates-water-intelligence-report. For a free overview, see https://ourfuturewaterintelligence.com/countries/united-arab-emirates.