Climate Resilient Water Resources Management in Muscat, Oman

How Muscat is combining large-scale desalination, dam water, treated effluent reuse, and digital leak reduction to manage coastal, flood, and heat risks.

Summary Insight: Muscat is restructuring its water resources system around diversification and resilience, closing a projected 56–59 thousand m³/day supply shortfall through new desalination capacity, purified dam water, and high treated effluent utilisation. With national non-revenue water at 39.62% and around 40% of supplied potable water lost in networks, the city’s climate resilience depends on accelerating smart metering, pipeline rehabilitation, and nature-based flood protection to safeguard high-value desalinated and dam-supplied water.

Target Audience

Utility & Asset Managers: Planning supply portfolios that blend desalination, dam water, and treated effluent under multi-hazard risk.
Policy & Regulators: Implementing national strategies on non-revenue water, flood management, and circular water use in Muscat Governorate.
Investors & IFIs: Evaluating desalination, dam, drainage, and smart meter CAPEX pipelines in a climate-stressed coastal capital.

Report Deliverables

Portfolio analysis of Barka V, Ghubrah II and III, Qurayyat, and Wadi Dayqah Dam water purification.
Non-revenue water reduction roadmap using smart meters, pressure management, and network renewal.
Nature-based and engineered flood mitigation options for wadi and coastal risk in Muscat.

The Five Strategic Pillars

Architectures: Consolidating production into large plants such as Ghubrah II (191,000 m³/day), Qurayyat (180,000 m³/day), Barka V (105,000 m³/day), and the planned Ghubrah III (300,000 m³/day), complemented by Wadi Dayqah Dam purification delivering 35,000 m³/day.

Enablement: Rolling out over 400,000 smart water meters nationwide under Nama Water Services (Oman Water and Wastewater Services Company) to enhance leak detection and demand intelligence.

Resolution: Targeting a national water loss rate of about 40% through pipeline rehabilitation, active pressure control, and real-time monitoring of high-loss zones in Muscat’s potable network.

Alignment: Coordinating desalination, dam water, drainage, and wastewater reuse investments with Oman’s climate adaptation and water security policies, including surface water drainage strategies led by Muscat Municipality.

Capability Building: Developing institutional capacity for integrated water–energy–climate planning, including renewable-powered desalination and green infrastructure for wadi and coastal flood management.

Operational Excellence & Resilience

Muscat operates under compound climate pressure, with nearly 45% of the capital’s area exposed to wadi flood hazards and a further 20% to coastal flooding, alongside rising temperatures that strain water and power systems. By achieving an 86% treated effluent utilisation rate in Muscat Governorate in 2022 and investing in Wadi Dayqah Dam purification and renewable-powered desalination, the city reduces pressure on potable supplies while improving resilience to cyclones, storm surges, and marine intake disruptions.

Network Losses & Upgrade Priority 39.62% Non-Revenue Water

National non-revenue water in 2023 highlights the urgency of sustained CAPEX in pipeline rehabilitation, smart metering, and advanced monitoring to protect high-cost desalinated and dam-sourced water.

Expert Briefing: FAQs

How is Muscat’s climate-resilient water strategy financed?
Financing combines public investment in desalination, dam purification, drainage, and wastewater networks with opportunities to use Green bonds and other innovative instruments for long-term climate-resilient infrastructure.

What role does Wadi Dayqah Dam play?
The Wadi Dayqah Dam purification project, structured as a 20-year public–private partnership and supplying about 35,000 m³/day, provides a lower-salinity source independent of marine risks and reduces reliance on coastal desalination.

How is digitalisation improving Muscat’s water resilience?
The deployment of more than 400,000 smart meters, coupled with advanced monitoring and pressure management, supports rapid leak detection, better demand management, and targeted reduction of non-revenue water in Muscat’s networks.

Climate Resilient Water Resources Management in Muscat, Oman

Target Audience

Report Deliverables

The Five Strategic Pillars

Operational Excellence & Resilience

Expert Briefing: FAQs

Climate Resilient Water Resources Management in Muscat, Oman

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