HRH Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdul Aziz, chairman of the High Commission for the Development of Arriyadh, signed a contract for groundwater level reduction project in 3 metropolitan neighborhoods (Al-Aridh neighborhood, Laban neighborhood-2, and Tuwaiq neighbourhood-9) with AZMEEL Contracting & Construction Corporation.

The scope of the project comprises the following:

• Groundwater level reduction networks in (Al-Aridh neighborhood) covering a length of 11.5 km
• Groundwater level reduction networks in (Laban neighborhood-2) covering a length of 5 km
• Groundwater level reduction networks in (Tuwaiq neighborhood-9) covering a length of 10 km

Riyadh now has over 379 km of groundwater drainage networks handling the rising groundwater level in the capital’s most affected neighborhoods. Additional 160 km of groundwater drainage networks are currently underway in the neighborhoods of Al-Yasmin, Al-Sahafah, Al-Aqiq, Al-Rabi, Al-Wadi, Tuwaiq, Zahrat Laban, Al-Aziziyah, Al-Faisaliah and Al-Manakh.

The High Commission has conducted a series of studies to solve the problem and came up with a program to:

• Manage the sources that cause the rise of groundwater level.
• Reduce the groundwater level to the safe limits.
• Take precautions to protect the existing and future installations and public facilities form the impacts of high groundwater level.
• Develop a program for continuous monitoring of the level and nature of both surface water and groundwater.