Wadi Awsaq


Wadi Awsaq is a valley or dry river, with ephemeral or intermittent flow, which flows almost exclusively during the rainy season, located in the east of the United Arab Emirates, in the emirates of Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah.
It is a right tributary of the Wadi Tawiyean, to whose extensive drainage basin of 208 km² it belongs, and which borders to the north with the basins of the Wadi Khabb Shamsi, Wadi Naqab and Wadi Nahela; and to the south and west by those of Wadi Mu'taridah / Wadi Mutarid and Wadi Basseirah.
The entire Wadi Tawiyean basin, whose highest peak is Jabal Yibir (), brings together approximately 222 independent streams, most of them unnamed, all classified into five grades or levels according to the Horton-Strahler numbering.
Among the main tributaries of the Wadi Awsaq, the Wadi Mara, the Wadi Al Mayyah and the Wadi Sadakh stand out.

Course

The total approximate length of the Wadi Awsaq is .
It flows from north to south, and its main source is located on the northern slope of Jabal Yibir, at an altitude of approximately above sea level.
In its upper course it borders first to the south the Jabal Dardur, and the village of Dardur, which extends around its summit, forming a ravine that descends to the nearby village of Al Marah.
In Al Marah the wadi turns south until it reaches the village of Mayya / Al-Mayah, where it receives on its left its tributary the Wadi Al Mayyah.
Mayya is currently a small village, located next to the access road to the summit of Jabal Yibir, with few permanent inhabitants, as most of its residents moved in 1973 to a residential neighborhood near the city of Tawiyean, but tradition speaks of the existence at this site of a large natural pond deep, with three springs that provided a year-round supply of fresh water.
From Mayya, the Wadi Awsaq forms a deep gorge about long, which directs its channel towards the Sayh Muruq depression, next to the city of Tawiyean, receiving the waters of Wadi Sadakh shortly before it flows into the Wadi Tawiyean.

Dams and Reservoirs

As in other regions of the UAE, the geographic area of Wadi Awsaq has occasionally been affected by unusually heavy rainfall and flooding, but no dams have yet been built along its channel.
However, to prevent the danger of flash floods and increase the recharge potential of groundwater, a large dam was built in 1992 across the Wadi Tawiyean, taking advantage of the confluence of the Wadi Awsaq and other major wadis in the Sayh Muruq depression.
The dam is high, has a reservoir of with a capacity of 18.5 million cubic metres, and was officially named Wadi Tawiyean Dam.

Toponymy

Alternative names: Wadi Ausaq, Wadi Awsaq, Wadi `Awsaj, Wādī Awsāq, Wādī ‘Awsaj.
The name of Wadi Awsaq, its tributaries, mountains, and nearby towns were recorded in documentation and maps produced between 1950 and 1960 by the British Arabist, cartographer, military officer and diplomat Julian F. Walker, during the work carried out to establish the borders between the then-called Trucial States, later completed by the Ministry of Defence of the United Kingdom, on 1:100,000 scale maps published in 1971.

Population

The Wadi Awsaq area was populated mainly by the Sharqiyin tribe, sections or tribal areas of Hafaitat / Ḩufaitāt and Yammahi / Yamāmaḩah.
In the vicinity of Wadi Awsaq and its tributaries, there are archaeological remains that testify to human presence in this area since very ancient times.