Water worries

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has warned that the country’s capital, Tehran, must be relocated due to limited water supplies for the current 15 million inhabitants. Only 1mm of rain has fallen this year in Tehran while 350mm fell every year between 1991 and 2000. Nineteen of Iran’s 31 provinces are suffering severe drought. Iran has 75 desalination plants  on the coasts of the Arab Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, but these provide only 3 per cent of the country’s potable water.

The government has identified the southeastern Makran region as a potential site for a new capital. Makran is hardly a convincing option. it is a small rural town, population around 1,500, on the semi desert coast of the Gulf of Oman.

Iran lacks the financial resources to carry out such a monumental move, but the government does not have a choice. Pezeshkian said the city cannot provide for further growth while desalinating and piping water from the Gulf would be too expensive.

Tehran’s Amir Kabir Dam, one of the largest, now holds 14 million cubic meters of water, just 8 per cent capacity, down from 85 million cubic meters a year ago, and the capital’s reservoirs are half-empty. Low-pressure reductions have begun across the city, with officials quietly warning that the taps may soon run dry. The flow of water into Tehran’s dams has fallen by 43 per cent since last year due to a dramatic drop in rainfall compared to long-standing averages. Behzad Parsa, head of the Tehran Regional Water Company, urged the city’s inhabitants to cut consumption. Due to mismanagement, population growth, and drought, 19 major dams have been reduced to 20 per cent capacity, making water poverty a national issue.

Compared with the long-term average, Iran’s meteorological organisation said rainfall had decreased by about 89 per cent this year, the lowest in 50 years. The authorities have sprayed clouds with chemicals to induce rain, a practice known as “cloud seeding” which has been used by the United Arab Emirates recently. Households and businesses that consume excessive amounts of water could be penalised. There was rainfall in the west and north-west of the country in mid-November and snow fell on a ski resort north of Tehran for the first time this year. But scattered rain and snow on dry ground cannot alleviate the crisis.

The water crisis began at least two decades ago and was not properly addressed by the authorities. The crisis negatively impacted agricultural areas and prompted farmers to migrate to cities where they swelled urban slums, straining infrastructure and public services and increasing pollution.

Tehran is not only afflicted with a growing water deficit but also is among the world’s five most polluted cities after Lahore in Pakistan and New Delhi in India. In addition to heavy traffic, Tehran’s electricity plants have been burning mazut, polluting heavy fuel oil. Deputy Health Minister Alireza Raisi told state media nearly 60,000 Iranians, or 161 a day, had died from breathing air-borne residue particles during the year that ended last March.

For nationalistic and ideological reasons, the revolutionary Iranian government has prioritized water allocations to give agriculture 90 per cent although this sector contributes only 12 per cent of GDP. Around 5-6 per cent goes for drinking water and 1-2 per cent for industry and other uses.

Peyman Falsafi, vice-chairman of the parliament’s agriculture, water, and natural resources commission, cited Israel’s attacks on Iran and starvation of Gaza as proof that “farming and food are used as weapons.”

Due to the drought and the lack of irrigation water, this year’s miserable apple, grape, and vegetable crops were ruinous for farmers. In the north of Iran, farmers complain that they cannot cultivate wheat. Groundwater has been depleted, denying farmers with electrified wells water for their crops. The price of power has risen because output of hydro-electricity plants has been reduced due to the lack of water in dams, lakes, rivers and streams.

While the government blames climate change, drought and western sanctions for the water crisis, the causes include building too many dams, depleting aquifers, failing to consult environmental experts on locating dams, and prioritising politics over realities. Between 2012 and 2018, Iran doubled the number of its dams, from 316 to 647, many of which were built without environmental assessments. As a result, Iran faces failing reservoirs and collapsing groundwater levels. In addition, Iran’s cities face a 25 percent loss of water through deteriorating pipelines.

Unlike crisis-ridden Iran with a population of 93 million, Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest producer of desalinated water, making desalination a viable and cost-effective solution for the arid country with a population of 33.5 million. The Saudi development plan has also adopted ambitious targets to expand its desalinated water production.

Photo: TNS