Majlis Research Center, the influential research arm of the Iranian Parliament, says in a new report that land subsidence caused by overextraction from deleting groundwater resources is pushing the water-stressed country to the point of no return.
According to the report, executive bodies, including the Energy Ministry, Agriculture Ministry and the Department of Environment, should take a number of emergency measures before it gets too late, the Energy Ministry's website Paven reported.
Current withdrawal pattern from groundwater sources will cause permanent damage to the diversity of the flora and fauna all over the country, especially in the central plateau, MRC added, noting that the imminent disaster will also exacerbate migration from central regions to northern and southern areas.
The report said when a plain begins to subside, reversing the trend will be very time-consuming and it may take 50 years to avert the disaster.
Even if water extraction from the endangered plains is banned, subsidence will not stop and only the speed of sinking will decline.
Referring to short- and long-term plans to tackle the issue, the report recommends cooperation with countries that have been able to control a similar situation.
Drawing a parallel between the current situation in some plains of Iran and California in the US, MRC said that before the area could reach a critical point, American water officials started to modify agricultural patterns and the cultivation of water-intensive crops were banned to minimize water withdrawal from underground tables.
“They started to tap into reclaimed wastewater resources not only to irrigate their farms but also to provide piped water for citizens,” the report said.
When a plain begins to subside, reversing the trend will be very time-consuming and it may take 50 years to avert the disaster
A data gathering system should be established to monitor the situation in different regions on a daily basis.
Linking land subsidence to illegal wells, the report added that water-intensive industries, especially steel, must not expand in desert areas like Kashan County in the central Isfahan Province.
In other parched regions like Hamedan Plain, thermal power plants that are depleting aquifers for their cooling towers should stop digging wells.
The think tank noted that groundwater resources all over the country are shrinking at such an incredible speed that water tables cannot replenish themselves.
Iran is on red alert as overextraction of groundwater resources over the last four decades is taking a heavy toll not only on the farming sector but also on industries.
Groundwater use peaked in the 1990s and surprisingly, the uptrend has continued unabated, the report said.
Annual water deficit from ground resources in Iran is 143 billion cubic meters that is more than the volume of renewable water resources.
Annual renewable water resources average 105 bcm, of which close to 70 bcm are exploitable.
Renewable water resources are defined as the average annual flow of rivers and recharge of aquifers generated from precipitation.
According to the Energy Ministry data, renewable resources were around 140 bcm in 1999 and embarked on the rapidly descending order ever since. It fell to 135 bcm, 130 bcm and 110 bcm in 2007, 2013 and 2017 respectively.
“Expanding water-intensive industries in parched areas, digging illegal wells, planting water-intensive crops to become self-sufficient at any price, in addition to chronic droughts, are all pushing the water-stressed country to the point of no return,” the report said.
The continuation of critical condition can endanger the country’s security.
Iran's annual water consumption is north of 100 billion cubic meters and its shocking water deficit will not decline unless the excessive withdrawal of water from aquifers in the agriculture sector ends. Tens of thousands of illegal water wells, which have been dug in recent years across the country, must be sealed without fear or favor.
