During 2025, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia established an advanced model for water sustainability, led by the Saudi Water Authority through a system that combines effective regulation, data-based oversight, applicable innovation, and localization of technologies, protecting resources, enhancing service reliability, and transforming water challenges into sustainable economic and development opportunities.

The Authority, within national integration, contributed to the Kingdom reaching second place globally in the Digital Regulatory Maturity Index issued by the International Telecommunication Union, reflecting the efficiency of the Saudi regulatory environment and its ability to employ technology and governance in developing services.

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The 2025 sustainability report also indicates that the United Nations has selected the Kingdom as a global pioneering model in water sustainability and its role in supporting the achievement of the sixth Sustainable Development Goal.

Localization of Advanced Industries and Technologies

On the economic track, the Authority’s efforts in localizing advanced industries and technologies contributed to reaching 65% local content in the water sector. Among the most prominent evidence of this track is the opening of the Toray plant, the largest of its kind in the Middle East for producing reverse osmosis membranes, supporting supply chain security, transferring knowledge, enhancing local content, and expanding the Kingdom’s global presence in the water technology industry. On the innovation track, the Authority launched the world’s largest water innovation oasis (Water Oasis) as an integrated environment combining research, development, promising technologies, and investment, providing a platform for developing practical solutions that can be scaled and utilized locally and internationally.

290 Environmental Permits

On the environmental side, the number of environmental permits exceeded 290, and the number of seedlings planted in integration with the water system reached 9 million seedlings, supporting vegetation cover and environmental protection and contributing to biodiversity. In terms of safety, the water system recorded more than 430 million safe working hours, reflecting the development of preventive practices, high safety levels, and protection of workers in various operational sites. The Authority transformed field oversight into a unified digital system, through which more than 59,000 inspection rounds were conducted in integration with licensees, documented via the 'Mamtabel' platform, enabling measurement of compliance levels, accelerating handling of observations, unifying follow-up work, and supporting data-driven decision-making.

Water Security, Innovation, and Development

The Authority documents these results in its second sustainability report for 2025, prepared in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards, and within a roadmap extending until 2045 for applying environmental, social, and governance practices in the water sector, making sustainability a measurable institutional approach and presenting the Saudi experience to the world as a model combining water security, innovation, and development. The report can be viewed through this link.