Observer & Busness 27 Mar 2012 - Oman Daily Observer

QURAYAT — A celebration
was held yesterday in the
Wilayat of Qurayat to open
Wadi Dhayqah Dam with a
storing capacity of 100 million
cubic metres, built at a cost of
RO 43,645,083.
The ceremony was held under
the auspices of His Highness
Sayyid Fatik bin Fahar al
Said, in the presence of ministers,
shaikhs, dignitaries and
others.
Wadi Dhayqah Dam in the
Wilayat of Qurayat in Muscat
Governorate, which can hold
about 35 million cubic meters
of water per year, is one of the
basic water projects which
aim at developing water sector
which is accorded utmost
priority by His Majesty Sultan
Qaboos.
The dam is also one of
the most important and major
projects being implemented by
the Sultanate to ensure sustainability
of water resources. The
dam has been designed according
to the best engineering
techniques and international
standards that ensure safety
and security.
The project will be one of
the major achievements of
the blessed renaissance and
will make a qualitative leap
in the implementation of water
projects and comes within
the framework of sustainable
development efforts of the
Sultanate.
It also comes within the
Regional Municipalities and
Water Resources Ministry
constant keenness to manage,
develop and ensure optimum
use of the resources. It will
contribute in promoting tourism
and finding practical ways
to limit the hazards of floods
and adverse weather conditions
which in turn will ensure
safety of property and lives.
Ahmed bin Abdullah al
Shuhi, Regional Municipalities
and Water Resources Minister,
said that since the 1980s,
the Sultanate's government
initiated dam projects to play
an important role in the development
of water resources and
enhancing the water security.
He added that Wadi Dhayqah
Dam is a new achievement
for the development process in
the country as it will be a strategic
reservoir for water and
will contribute in the development
of water resources in the
Wilayat of Qurayat and other
parts of Muscat Governorate.
4 OMAN
OMAN DAILY Observer
TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 2012
Boost to water conservation as Wadi Dhayqah dam opens
The dam aims at benefiting
from the flood waters flowing
in wadis which usually enters
the sea, and preserving the
consumption of water used for
irrigation in the villages and
areas near the wadi's path and
below the dam.
It also aims at providing potable
water for the wilayat and
serves as a strategic source of
water for Muscat Governorate.
The dam provides protection
for the villages on the sides of
the wadi against risks of floods
and promotes tourism in the
wilayat.
He pointed out that the
project includes two dams,
one is the main dam and the
other is the side dam with a
storing lake. The dam is provided
with a tower to control
water discharge form the lake.
It also includes monitoring
network that includes a
number of meters connected
to a central system for date
display and saving. There is
also a tunnel inside the main
body of the dam for purpose
of digging, injection and discharge
of the leaked water appropriates.
He added that the second
stage of the project includes
a developed system for water
supplies treatment as about 35
million cubic meter of water
per year will be pumped to
distribute the water collected
at the dam lake, treat them to
supply the Wilayat of Qurayat
and some wilayats in Muscat
Governorate with potable
water and water for different
uses.
He affirmed the importance
of the projects that have been
implemented in the different
parts of the Sultanate and
that such achievements are the
fruits of co-operation between
citizens and the government.
The opening ceremony
included a number of poems
and tableaus the highlight the
importance of preserving water
after which the plaque of
the project was unveiled. The
chief guest then toured the
visitors' centre and the exhibition
which includes the documents
that cast light on the
different aspects of the project
through text and visual presentations
in Arabic and English.
The exhibition has two
halls on water, its hydrologic
cycle, as well as the major
water resources related issues
and facts in the Sultanate and
the world in general.
When the dam is full, the
storing lake will cover 350
hectares of land that extends
for 6 km to the upper part of
the dam body. The average
circumference of the lake
when full will be 28 km.
The project includes control
rooms for the dam, a tower for
water discharge, monitors for
the data, control switches for
the SCADA system and other
world-class systems. The control
and monitoring systems
also include 39 metres for
expansion and shrinking, 100
metres for the temperature and
a number of limiters at the end
of limiting basin.
The project also includes a
tunnel inside the main structure
of the dam (3 metres wide
and 4 metres high) for control,
injection and discharge of the
leaked water. It has 122 wells
to reduce water pressure on
the foundations of the dam, 4
monitors to monitor the movement
in the dam body, 4 meters
to monitor earthquakes,
18 valves for the control system
and 50 monitors for the
underground water, in addition
to 18 wells to observe the
underground reservoirs and
underground water level.
To enhance the aesthetic
value of the project, many
green spaces were provided
in the area in between the
main and the side dam and
in the lower area for the side
dams. — ONA
— Pictures by ONA and Saeed al Harrassi