Shawka Dam Proved its Efficiency in the Recent Rainy Days, Says Minister

H.E. Suhail bin Mohamed Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, was briefed on Monday on the efficiency of the Shawka Dam in the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah and its readiness for any future developments.

This follows the depression that swept across the country and the heavy rainfall it brought.

H.E. was accompanied by H.E. Engineer Hassan Mohamed Jumaa Al Mansouri, Undersecretary of the Ministry for Infrastructure and Transport Affairs, H.E. Engineer Mohamed Al Meal, Assistant Undersecretary for the Federal Infrastructure Assets Sector, and a number of ministry officials,

During the visit, Al Mazrouei gave his orders to immediately draft a detailed study on dams in the country and whether they need expansion and development.

This would done by comparing their current area with the amount of annual rainfall to ensure they can receive the rain during the season every year.

The study will also focus on transforming the challenges resulting from rainfall into real development opportunities, by taking advantage of rainwater and turning dams into artificial lakes and the surrounding lands into green spaces, which will help in developing tourism and supporting the country's objectives in this vital field.

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During the tour, H.E. was briefed on the modern technologies adopted by the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure to monitor rainwater flows, torrential rains and floods in the valleys.

The Ministry uses artificial intelligence to monitor and measure the flow of rainwater in the valleys using stations to keep track of the water flow in real time and automatically.

It also employs modern technology to analyze the speed, quantity and depth of water flows with high accuracy, relay them to the Control and Monitoring Unit at the Ministry and process and analyze its data to be used in making appropriate decisions.

This makes the UAE the first country in the Middle East to put such technologies in place.

Al Mazrouei praised the efforts of the work teams of the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure as well as the local governments, who were present in the field during the inclement weather and demonstrated great capability and efficiency in dealing promptly with the effects resulting from the recent rainfall.

The Ministry has proper experience and knowledge in dealing with the emergency conditions resulting from depressions, and it effectively maintained continuous coordination with the federal and local government agencies to limit the damage, the Minister said.

The damages resulted from the unstable weather conditions and the accompanying heavy rainfall which exceeded 90 mm in the Dhadna area, and 80 mm in the city of Khorfakkan.

He added that the Ministry used the monitoring and control equipment to serve its strategic partners during the unstable weather conditions.

Furthermore, H.E. Engineer Hassan Mohamed Jumaa Al Mansouri praised the efforts of all federal and local authorities in dealing with the weather instability, expressing his happiness that the ministry supervises 103 dams, barriers and water lakes, with a storage capacity of 80 million cubic meters.

He indicated that the UAE has built dams based on the needs of the various regions of the country in line with the highest safety standards to protect lives and property.

It is worth mentioning that the 13-meter high Shawka Dam basin in Ras Al Khaimah has an estimated storage capacity of approximately 275,000 cubic meters.

It is a concrete dam whose water contributes to increasing the efficacy of feeding the soil layers carrying groundwater and benefiting from rainwater pooling into lakes of dams in agricultural activity

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