The Northern Batinah region of the Sultanate of Oman is endangered by flash floods, cyclones and droughts. The country was stroked by two major cyclones in the last five years. In order to mitigate these risks and minimize the potential consequences of these environmental hazards, flood retention and groundwater recharge dams were considered to be one efficient step towards a sustainable use of water and flood control (MEMWR, 1998). In the recent years a large number of dam projects were studied also in the Batinah region. The author was involved in a feasibility study which comprised eight large wadi areas. The scope was flood protection and groundwater recharge in form of creating reservoirs in combination with hydraulic recharge structures. Of more than 40 investigated dam sites the best were selected and recommended for realization. For this purpose a dam selection concept was developed which considered 12 decision aspects such as existing settlements, available reservoir volume, groundwater efficiency, costs, etc. The aspects were rated and weighted to attached the corresponding importance to the specific technical requirements and the needs of affected parties and responsible authorities.

The Northern Batinah region of the Sultanate of Oman is endangered by flash floods, cyclones and droughts. The country was stroked by two major cyclones in the last five years. In order to mitigate these risks and minimize the potential consequences of these environmental hazards, flood retention...