The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has announced that more than 75% of the work has been completed on its Hatta Water Reservoir project, and is due for completion – fully on-schedule – in April 2023.

With a construction cost of US $23.4mn, the Hatta project has a storage capacity of 30m imperial gallons of water.

DEWA MD and CEO Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer explained that DEWA is implementing the project as part of efforts to store six billion gallons of water in aquifers that can be retrieved as and when needed. This can speed and facilitate rapid distribution and allow additional supplies to be sent to in-need zones as required without disruption to overall activity.

In January 2022, DEWA said that 35% of construction was complete on its Hatta hydroelectric plant and, in May 2022, it said it had completed 98.83% of its $72.4mn project to extend Dubai’s water transmission network.

The new Hatta reservoir will provide the emirate with a strategic reserve of over 50m gallons of desalinated water per day in emergencies for 90 days, while ensuring the quality of the stored water remains unaffected by external factors.

The project is part of a larger commitment by DEWA to ensure ongoing development via sustainable models throughout the emirates, with stronger outreach to rural communities and less densely-populated areas.

Al Tayer concluded, “We are also working to consolidate the foundations of sustainable development for Hatta.”

In October 2022, DEWA’s Jebel Ali complex won a Guinness World Record title.