Evaluation of a Landscape Irrigation Management Strategy to Support Abu Dhabi Update Its Water-Related Standards

Abstract

This chapter discusses an landscape irrigation (LI) strategy to enable 100% non-potable water reuse through soil improvement, thereby reducing the environmental impacts. The case study site is a medical facility including 33,257 m2 of landscaping in Abu Dhabi (AD), the capital of the United Arab Emirates. The aim of this research is to increase net-carbon sinks, a pillar of decarbonization, as the basis for a proposed protocol to implement soil improvement techniques for the landscape architecture/agriculture industries. The interventions, based on AD soil and water recycling standards, included three different soil additives in 2016 and 2017, together with the calculation and implementation of a suitable irrigation rate to establish LI demand and reduce a five-month shortfall in air-conditioning condensate water supply. The intervention results show the case study irrigation rate was 50% less after soil improvement than the AD Municipality irrigation standard and that the LI condensate water deficit decreased by 8046 m3, a 42% reduction. The research demonstrates that carbon sinks can be increased through improved soil management; this highlights the need to update AD’s water-related standards to help the city achieve its 2030 target of a 22% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.