The council for the Prince Sultan International Prize for Water (PSIPW) on Sunday held its first meeting for its fifth award, which recognises contributions by scientists and organisations in the water sector.

At Sunday's meeting, attended by His Majesty King Abdullah, PSIPW Council Chairman Prince Khaled Bin Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz emphasized the urgency of planning to prevent and cope with future water crises, noting that water is likely to supplant oil, geographic expansion and political power as a main contributor to future military conflict.

Launched in 2002, the award seeks excellence in water-related research, Prince Khaled said.

“We are heading towards water tragedies in the absence of action by international entities,” he said, adding that this requires legislation to fight “water piracy.

Prince Khaled, who is also Saudi Arabia's assistant minister of defence and aviation and inspector general for military affairs, warned about a lack of awareness of the importance of water, coupled with poor distribution methods, and stressed the need for more water management knowledge.

Encouraging scientists to compete for the prize, PSIPW Secretary General Abdulmalek A. Al Alsheikh said scientists and researchers from across the world are eligible to apply for the award.

The prize recognises scientific work that contributes to the sustainable availability of potable water and the alleviation of water scarcity, he said.

His Royal Highness Prince Feisal, Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit, Senate President Taher Masri, Lower House Speaker Feisal Fayez and several other officials and water specialists attended the meeting.

The scientific prize is one of Saudi Arabia's key contributions to global water-related matters, issues which represent some of the world's most pressing humanitarian, economic and political concerns.

The international award is bestowed biennially in five branches, with one million Saudi riyals (about $266,000) allocated for the Creativity Branch, and half a million Saudi riyals (about $133,000) allocated for each of the other four specialised branches, according to the website.

The prize is accompanied by a gold medallion, a trophy and a certificate.

The PSIPW general secretariat is headquartered in the Prince Sultan Research Centre for Environment, Water and Desert at King Saud University in Riyadh.