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Al-Hasa Oasis is the largest natural oasis in Saudi Arabia. It is located approximately 65 kilometers west of the Arabian Gulf and is home to just under one million people.

In ancient times, it was a key stopping point on trade routes between eastern Saudi Arabia, India, Persia and the Far East. Today, it is a collection of numerous small towns and villages all bound together by their dependence on the oasis.

The oasis extends over approximately 12,000 hectares (30,000 acres) and is irrigated by a flow of 60 or more artesian springs. A large underground aquifer provides water for approximately 3 million date palms as well as other agricultural crops.

Date farming has long been one of the main agricultural activities in the area, and today, local industries supply dates and date products throughout the Gulf region. Al-Hasa dates are considered some of the finest to be found throughout Saudi Arabia.

By the early 1960s, residents knew that the bounty of the oasis was in danger, both from the encroaching sand and from an outdated irrigation system. An ambitious irrigation project consisting of canals and above-ground viaducts was undertaken in 1962 by the government to supply water for farming in the area.

One of the interesting features of this irrigation system was the reservoirs that were constructed to supply water for domestic use as well as to provide swimming holes for local residents.

In 1965 a complementary project of reforestation and sand dune control also was undertaken with cooperation from agricultural experts working for Saudi Aramco. The encroaching sand had clogged many of the natural irrigation channels and was threatening to engulf several of the villages in the al-Hasa area. This project has been largely successful and may be visited today.

Now the oasis faces another threat - the aquifer is drying up as evidenced by archival photos showing higher water levels in the reservoirs in decades past. Palm trees still provide shade and nourishment in al-Hasa - as they have for centuries past and hopefully will for years to come.