Dams in the southwestern and southern regions are ready to control possible floods forecast for the weekend.
According to the Energy Ministry’s news portal, storage capacity of dams in Khuzestan, Kohkilouyeh-Boyer-Ahmad and Bushehr have been “maintained at secure levels” to help control possible flooding as autumn rains are reported in many parts of the country.
The weatherman has forecast heavy rainfall in the southern regions over the next few days.
According to Daryoush Baharlouee, head of Water Resources Planning Department in Khuzestan, dams namely Karoun, Dez, Maroun and Karkhe (all in the same province) each have at least 1 billion cubic meters of empty capacity.
Heavy rains in March and April caused torrential floods in 24 provinces, especially in oil-rich Khuzestan. At the time, Karkheh and Dez dams were full and unable to take more water and had to be emptied. As a result many towns and rural areas were inundated causing human and material damage.
Referring to Kosar Dam in Gachsaran in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province, the water official noted that close to 80 million cubic meters of water from the dam have been released and it can now adjust 130 million cubic meters of water.
Water levels in the largest dam in Bushehr Province (Rais Ali Delvari Dam) have also been reduced to cope with heavy rainfall forecast for the next few days.
In addition to helping farmers, dams help prevent loss of life and property caused by flooding.
Dissenting Views
Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian, who heads the ministry known for its propensity to build dams, and some experts insist that flooding can help replenish dam reservoirs and slightly alleviate drought conditions. However, environmentalists and conservationists have a different view. They argue that proper management ensures floods inflict minimal damage and, more importantly, be used to restore drying wetlands and submerge the sources of dust storms in water.
“Dams are no longer used to control floods anywhere in the world,” Mohammad Darvish, the former head of Public Participation Office at the Department of Environment said.
Experts say maintaining vegetation, banning construction along rivers and managing watersheds are some of the few ways to reduce loss from flooding.
Proper water management can turn floods, which inflict colossal losses almost every year, into a potential solution for the rampant dust storms that hit flood-hit regions frequently.
“We can create paths to divert flood waters to wetlands on the brink of desiccation and to regions that contribute to dust storms,” says Hamidreza Khodabakhshi, head of the Water Engineers Syndicate.
Those in charge in Tehran know that the rate at which dams are built in the world has plunged from almost 1,000 a year in the mid-1970s to about 250 in the early 2000s.
Moreover, the World Commission on Dams has found out that dams at best have been marginally viable in economic terms.
The average cost overrun of dams is 56. When a dam is predicted to cost $1 billion, it ends up costing $1.5 billion. In many cases, the burden of uneconomic dams falls on the people while project contractors walk away with a tidy profit and another project to add to their portfolio.
Nonetheless, some officials, including Mohammad Hajrasouliha, chief executive of Iran’s Water Resources Management Company (a subsidiary of the Energy Ministry) defend their pro-dam policy and say that 43 dams should become operational at an estimated cost of $1.5 billion in the next three years and will play a crucial role for potable water supply.
The Energy Ministry says plans are underway to complete 120 dams across the country, of which 43 "must" be ready by 2022. Of the 172 dams 96 are said to be running out of water.
