Diverting water from the Caspian Sea to the drought-stricken Semnan Province in north central Iran, which is seen by many experts as a highly contentious issue, would cost between 70 cents and 90 cents per liter.
At this prohibitive cost, it would be economically unviable even for developed economies in the world, a faculty member of Mazandaran University said.
"It has been said and reported that this project would cost at least $200 million," Hassan Hosseini told IRNA, adding that if and when completed it would have a low return (less than 1%) and so no private company would dare the risk.
Needless to say, such astronomical cost cannot and will not be covered by the state given its mounting debt and the poor state of the economy, the academician said.
The first phase of the plan includes transferring 100 million cubic meters of water per annum to Semnan after desalination.
"Aside from the funding, the huge undertaking will lead to irreparable harm not only to the Caspian Sea but also to Semnan," he said, adding that supplying residents of the drought-ridden province with bottled water “would make more economic sense as it will cost 20 cents per liter.”
“The scheme has not been studied in depth and will lead to a host of environmental problems one of which is the danger it would pose to the Caspian marine ecosystem. Desalination produces large quantities of discharge, known as brine that will be pumped back into the lake, presenting another serious environmental challenge.”
The lecturer went on to say that the species in the sea cannot adjust to major changes in salinity caused by the release of brine into the area. “The super-saturated salt water also decreases oxygen levels in the water causing animals and plants to perish.”
It is estimated that desalination of 100 mcm of water will produce as much as 1.5 million tons of salt per year, getting rid of which would indeed be a problem of unimaginable proportion, he warned.
"If desalination facilities are built in Semnan, the residue from the process has to be dumped in the desert. That again would be a recipe for a disaster as it would make the area uninhabitable in its entirety."
Experts, including Hosseini, believe that another matter of concern would be the volume of energy required to keep the desalination plants up and running. Energy costs account for one-third to one-half of the total cost of producing desalinated water.
Energy-Intensive
The other contentious issue is the path through which the pipeline would traverse to reach Semnan. According to Amir Hussein Mazinifar, a member of Iranian Hydrographic Association, the 200 kilometer pipeline would have to pass through the world famous Hyrcanian Forest, requiring the felling of trees in the ecologically-rich but vulnerable woodlands.
Besides, water will have to be pumped upward from 21 meters below sea level to 2,000 meters.
Common sense demands that the project be kept on hold so long as other options, such as rainwater harvesting, promoting modern irrigation methods and recycling wastewater are still on the table
"The pumping equipment would alone require at least 350 megawatts of power, equal to one-third of the output of Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant," Mazinifar said.
Given the above-mentioned concerns, common sense demands that the project be kept on hold so long as other options, such as rainwater harvesting, promoting modern irrigation methods and recycling wastewater are on the table, the news agency quoted the university teacher as saying.
However, there are political figures like the Semnan MP Ahmad Hemmati who insist on converting the desert into a paradise regardless of the high costs and irreparable damage.
"Permits have been issued by the Department of Environment," Hemati claimed last week, adding that special funding has been allocated to the project.
Neither the DOE nor major news outlets have confirmed the lawmaker’s stance regarding the DOE clearance.
DOE officials in the past have often opposed the plan as environmentally undusted. They recall past experiences, such as transferring water from Karoun River in Khuzestan Province to revive Zayandehrud River in Isfahan that turned out to be unsuccessful.
As is the case in many countries, experts say, when it comes to such ambitious, but controversial, development projects, the primary aim is political gain in front of which the socioeconomic criteria pales.
