On Feb. 15 a group of NYU New York students studying in Abu Dhabi went on their first visit to Saadiyat Island, but they were disappointed to be banned from swimming in the bright blue water. Kristina Harris, a sophomore studying away from NYU New York, recalls finding out why she could not take a dip:

“At the public beach, when they told us the water was closed, we thought there might have been a shark or an E. Coli outbreak, like it usually is when the beach is closed, but when we went to the hotel, they informed all their patrons with signs and very, very helpful staff that there was oil in the water,” she added.

A sign posted on the beach at the St. Regis Saadiyat that warned of a minor oil spill kept beachgoers on the sand that day.

On Monday, March 31, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released the second part of its most recent report on the state of the global climate. The report asks how the climate is affecting ecosystems, the economy and people’s livelihoods. This document reports that climate change will lead to fewer freshwater resources worldwide, a problem in which the UAE is already immersed because of the lack of groundwater or rainfall resources to support its growing population. Not only the climate but also the economic activity of drilling and transporting oil is affecting the ocean ecosystem, beachgoing economy and recreational lifestyles of the people of Abu Dhabi.

NYU Abu Dhabi is also delving into the realm of water research with courses like Where the City Meets the Sea, which has students comparing the coastal ecosystems of Abu Dhabi to those in Shanghai under the guidance of coral reef expert and professor John Burt. The NYUAD community is showing concern for the problem of water in the Emirates and beyond.

NYUAD sophomore Clara Bicalho explained her interest in spending her free time researching the sustainability of water use with her general knowledge on water issues:

“We all know that most of the water we consume is desalinated underground or sea water, which is both financially and environmentally costly. Yet, the UAE has the highest rate of water consumption per capita. That's part of the reason why I was interested in assisting professor Steve Caton with his research on water sustainability in the UAE,” said Bicalho.

The IPCC report, however, does not come as a surprise. One step the UAE is taking to prepare for the future strain on water resources is the opening of a new research branch of the Masdar Institute, the Institute Center for Water and Environment, colloquially known as iWater. This new initiative will focus on the environmental monitoring of water resources and maintaining a sustainable supply of clean water.

Worryingly, there is still a rift between innovation and pollution reduction, which is an important part of sustainable water management. The oil spill in February temporarily shut down Saadiyat beaches but did not make headlines or, presumably, real progress toward more stringent monitoring of water pollution or resources.

On Feb. 18, four days after the spill first occurred, The National reported that efforts had been made by Environment Agency Abu Dhabi authorities to determine the cause of the spill in an efficient manner. When the beach reopened on Feb. 21, a full week after the spill, no reports had been released to the public about what might have caused the spill.  There is a disconnect in the UAE between efforts to tackle the overall problem of freshwater scarcity and problems of water contamination. Since the city of Abu Dhabi relies entirely on desalinated seawater to quench the thirst of nearly 1 million people, ocean contamination is intrinsically linked with the problem of limited freshwater resources.

The nonchalance that surrounded the oil spill on Saadiyat raised a red flag for Harris about the real state of water in Abu Dhabi.

“I think it’s highly suspicious that the government tried to keep this oil spill from the people. How many oil spills are they having that are going unchecked, unregulated and unreported?”

The trouble with water in Abu Dhabi will, according to the IPCC, increase in the coming years. The international community is poised to take action to adapt to rising temperatures and sea levels as climate change intensifies, but the trouble with water in Abu Dhabi is already reaching critical levels. Serious attention needs to be paid now to the state of all water resources in Abu Dhabi, from beaches to taps and everywhere in between.