Status of hydrological network in south-western region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The planning design and decision making of a water resources project demands accurate hydrological information. Having sufficient and accurate hydrological data not only reduces the chances of project failure but also the economic risk arising from inadequate finformation. Therefore, it is imperative that a hydrological network be planned and designed scientifically in such a way so as to yield a representative picture of hydrological information desired. In Saudi Arabia, hydrological stations are installed on the basis of accessibility to the site and the amount of rainfall. However, the criteria for a hydrological network design should be optimum number of stations where maximum hydrological information is obtained. In this study, two hydrological network design methods, namely Shannon's and Fisher's Information Theories, were applied to the existing hydrological network in hydrological Area III, located in the Southwestern region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to examine their suitability towards providing maximum hydrological information. The study shows that the present seventy hydrological stations can be reduced approximately to forty-five which includes a few stations at new sites.