Dubai plans to spend the equivalent of $8.2 billion to build a stormwater drainage network, the emirate's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, announced June 24. The work follows record damaging floods in April in the country and throughout the United Arab Emirates.
The infrastructure would increase Dubai’s rainwater drainage capacity by 700% to 20 million cu m daily, according to officials. Part of the project will involve boring tunnels with a flow capacity of 230 cu m per second. Dubai is set to begin the project immediately, with phased work completion by 2033.
The project will boost "readiness to face future climate-related challenges” for the next 100 years, he said in a statement.
The April 16 storms brought the largest volume of rain in the UAE since recordkeeping began in 1949. While most of the country averages between 5.5 in. and 7.9 in. of rain per year, the UAE National Centre of Meteorology reported some areas experienced more than 10 in. of rain. At least four people reportedly died, although the UAE government has not released official figures.
The UAE normally sees so little rain that its meteorology agency conducts cloud seeding to increase rainfall but did not perform any ahead of the April storms, it said. Cloud seeding involves adding certain types of particles to existing clouds to form ice crystals that will yield more precipitation.
Diana Francis, senior research scientist and head of the environmental and geophysical sciences lab at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi, told the government-owned Emirates News Agency in April that the UAE will face more frequent and intense extreme weather events because of climate change.
“The amount of rain that fell on [April 16] is unprecedented and is equivalent to the amount of rain the UAE receives in two years,” she said.
Dubai officials said the stormwater project would address expected increased rainfall associated with climate change, and expand on work begun after flooding in 2019. Then, Dubai added drainage infrastructure in the Expo Dubai area, Jebel Ali and Al Maktoum International Airport City, where the country plans to build the world’s largest airport as part of a $35-billion project announced this year.
