Although agriculture and industries account for more than 90% of water consumed in Iran, the two water-intensive sectors are still lagging way behind when it comes to wastewater recycling and water reuse.
Qasem Taqizadeh Khamesi, director of the National Water and Wastewater Engineering Company of Iran (Abfa), made the statement addressing the National Taskforce to Promote Water Optimization Culture in Tehran on Tuesday, the Energy Ministry’s news service reported.
“A massive 13 billion cubic meters of water are wasted annually in the agro sector due to outdated irrigation techniques. Industries are also unfamiliar with wastewater reclamation technologies,” he added.
Wastewater is becoming more widely recognized as an asset to exploit rather than a liability to be treated and disposed of in the environment, but this is still not the case in Iran.
“A huge amount of sewage goes to waste due to poor and underdeveloped wastewater treatment infrastructure. Moreover, farmers and industry owners have not felt the need to reuse water as an important opportunity not only to save depleting resources but also to develop a sustainable business,” Khamesi said.
Not denying the fact that very few initiatives have been undertaken in major cities, such as Isfahan, Tehran and Mahshahr, he noted that there is a long way to go to realize long-term goals in saving limited water resources.
Renewable Water Resources
According to the Abfa official, Iran’s population of 82 million has grown by 2.5 times over the last 40 years, while renewable water resources show an appalling 30% decline in the period to reach 90 billion cubic meters.
Renewable water resources are defined as the average manual flow of rivers and recharge of aquifers generated from precipitation.
Khamesi pointed out that renewable resources were around 140 bcm in 1999 and rapidly declining ever since. It fell to 135 bcm, 130 bcm and 105 bcm in 2007, 2013 and 2017 respectively.
Annual renewable water resources average 114 bcm, of which close to 70 bcm are exploitable while annual water consumption is north of 100 billion cubic meters.
The shocking water deficit will not reduce unless excessive withdrawal of water from aquifers in the agriculture sector ends. Illegal water wells, which have been dug in the tens of thousands in recent years across the country, must be sealed without fear or favor.
Crisis Level
Experts like Isa Kalantari, the head of the Department of Environment, say the country’s water scarcity will hit crisis level by 2025, when available renewable water will be less than 1,000 cubic meters per capita, down from 2,000 cubic meters in 1950.
The DoE chief and economic experts have often warned about the high consumption patterns in the farming sector and said on record that water is being extracted much faster than it can be replenished.
They have also said large parts of the water-stressed country will turn into barren desert if those in charge don’t change course and rewrite the centuries-old agricultural policies that are unsustainable.
However, all their pleas and appeals have fallen on deaf ears. How, when and where things will take a turn for the better remains to be seen.
Iran uses a record 80% of its total renewable freshwater resources, whereas international norms suggest a ceiling of 20-40% to ensure environmental sustainability and to meet rising demand of growing populations.
Since 2007, annual water use in the country has ranged between 70 bcm and 100 bcm, of which 91% are used by farmers who apparently seem indifferent to the serious water shortages and a looming disaster.
Aquifers produce more than 60% of all water used in Iran today. Over the past 20 years, 120 bcm have been extracted from non-renewable groundwater bodies, including deep aquifers, with an average of 6 bcm of groundwater depletion a year.
To restore the lost capacity, consumption rates must be lowered by 11-12 bcm per year.
