Crown Prince Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense, with Prince Khaled bin Sultan, left, Dr. William Yeh, and Abdul Malik Al-Asheikh, right, during the international water prize distribution ceremony in Riyadh. (SPA)

Crown Prince Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense, distributed the Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water for 2014 among its winners during a colorful ceremony in Riyadh on Monday. He congratulated the winners and admired their valuable research works.

Dr. Eric F. Wood and Dr. Justin Sheffield from Princeton University, Dr. Kristine M. Larson of Colorado University won the creativity prize while Dr. Larry Mays of Arizona State University received the surface water prize.

Dr. Jesús Carrera Ramirez of Institute for Environmental Assessment and Water Research in Barcelona, Spain won the ground water prize. The alternative water resources prize went to Dr. Polycarpos Falaras of the National Center for Scientific Research in Athens while the water management and protection prize was received by Dr. William W-G. Yeh of University of California in Los Angeles.

Addressing the ceremony, Prince Khaled bin Sultan, chairman of the prize, cautioned the world against the possibility of terrorists attacking desalination plants and poisoning rivers and water pipelines. He urged researchers to develop effective technologies to avoid such tragedies.

He said the prize was instituted to encourage scientists and researchers to make contributions to international efforts to preserve water resources. “Growing population demands more water not only for drinking purpose but also for protecting public health, keep industries running and food production,” Prince Khaled said, adding that the demand for water would increase by 40 percent by 2030.

The prize has five categories and SR1 million has been allocated for the creativity prize and SR500,000 each for the remaining four prizes.

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