RIYADH: The Saudi Water Forum, organized by the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture under the title “Sustainable Water for Sustainable Development,” was launched on Sunday in Riyadh. The event’s first day saw the holding of four workshops attended by a large number of officials in the water sector. The ministry, through this forum, seeks to benefit from international experts and use its outcomes and recommendations to achieve the goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 reform plan and the National Water Strategy. The first workshop tackled the issue of water sustainability. It addressed modern technical and technological processes that can be employed to manage water projects, as well as the main challenges facing the water sector globally and in the Kingdom. The second workshop dealt with smart technologies in water distribution management, their role in providing accurate measurements and readings, and their ability to detect malfunctions and leaks. It also presented a new distribution mechanism that could promote water sustainability and help achieve the sector’s goals if adopted. The latest designs and operating methods of membrane desalination plants were discussed in the third workshop. The last workshop was on the contribution of Japan’s water strategy to achieving the goals of Vision 2030.