Coastal Vulnerability Index for Kuwaiti Coast

Abstract

Kuwait is investing significantly for the development of coastal infrastructures in many of its coastal areas. It is essential to know the vulnerability of the coast of Kuwait for the future sea level rise and other physically influencing parameters. For this purpose, a detailed study is carried out and the coastal vulnerability index (CVI) is established for the Kuwaiti coast including the coasts of Islands. The CVI is assessed based on the data on coastal geomorphology, historical shoreline change rate,  regional coastal slope, mean significant wave height, mean tidal range and the particle size of the sediments along the beach. The total Kuwaiti coastline of 499 km is divided into two groups with a total of 162 coastal cells. The group 1 contains 138 cells and covers the mainland, Boubyan and Failaka Island. The group 2 contains 24 locations and covers Umm Al-Maradim, Qaru and Kubbar Islands. From this study it is found that 5% of the Kuwaiti coastal area in group 1 are very low vulnerable; 34% low vulnerable; 31% moderately vulnerable; 18% highly vulnerable and 12%  are very highly vulnerable. Similar results are obtained for group 2 coastal cells. This CVI information on physical vulnerability of the coastal area are carried out based on field data collection for Geomorphology, beach slope, and grain size of the beach soil, numerical model based data on wave height and tidal information and remote sensing based shoreline change detection. The results of this study will be useful for Integrated Coastal Zone Management plan of Kuwaiti coast and for its sustainable coastal infrastructure development.