Characterization of Doha Bay: A Case Study

Doha Bay is a semi-enclosed water body, located on the Arabian Gulf, bordering Doha, capital city of the State of Qatar. It currently receives untreated waters via several marine outfalls from Doha and surrounding areas. The untreated water consists of stormwater, but is also likely to include discharges from non-stormwater sources, which may contribute additional pollutants to the receiving sea waters. Due to shallow depth near the stormwater discharge outlets in the Doha Bay, there is a potential public health risk to recreational users from accumulated pollutants. The key objective of this study is to determine the existing environmental conditions of the marine environment, in the vicinity of four primary discharge outfalls (i.e. Souq Waqif, Rumailah, Tennis Court and Diplomatic outfalls) in order to assess the spatial extent of the pollutants that may have dispersed from each Outfall. An extensive sampling program was undertaken that includes an assessment of water and sediment quality, hydrodynamics and identification of sensitive ecological communities within the Doha Bay area. To achieve this, a series of sampling stations were positioned along multiple transect lines radiating out from each discharge point. The results of sampling program were assessed for compliance against a range of local, regional and international ambient marine water quality standards as reported in this paper.