Managing the Hazards of Drought and Shifting Sands in Dry Lands: The Case Study of Kuwait

Abstract

Dry lands cover about 41% of the global terrestrial areas. These are characterized by low average annual rainfall and large variations. Drought is a serious natural hazard in Kuwait and its adjacent countries. During the last four decades, Kuwait experienced a number of dry seasons with rainfall below average (<110 mm year⁻¹). During 2007–2008 and 2008–2009 dry seasons, total rainfall of 35 and 65 mm was recorded, respectively. The consequences of the drought seasons were the massive soil losses (750–1,000 m³ ha⁻¹ in the west Managish area in July 2008); severe sand encroachment even in areas protected for decades, e.g., KISR experimental station at Kabd; relatively longer period of sand and dust storms (May–September 2008 and July–August 2009); and depletion of soil moisture and dryness of natural vegetation.

Sustainable land-use planning in Kuwait is the first defensive step to mitigate the consequences of drought and to reduce land degradation. In the past 15 years, significant changes in land use were observed in Kuwait. Some of these changes have positive and others have negative ecological and environmental impacts. Establishment of the buffer zone (15 km wide and >200 km long) between Iraq and Kuwait in 1993–1994 enhanced the vegetation cover and improved biodiversity and soil conditions, while border trenches (3 m deep, 5 m wide, and hundreds of kilometers long) and the construction of bund walls (2–3 m high, 3–5 m wide, and hundreds of kilometers long) have negatively affected surface water and natural vegetation. It is visualized that in Kuwait sustainable measures to mitigate the consequences of drought are not well adopted. Based on the vast KISR experience in managing dry lands, four programs are proposed to manage the hazards of drought in Kuwait. These are watershed management and restoration, mitigating hydrological drought, managing the hazards of shifting sands, and setting up sustainable land-use plans. The main objective of this study was to adopt integrated approach to mitigate drought in Kuwait. To achieve the objective, intensive fieldwork including experiments and surveys accompanied by analyses and interpretation of remote sensing data were carried out and reported in this chapter.