Iran’s water deficit is about 130 billion cubic meters. In the best case scenario and even with higher rainfall this year, this huge shortage cannot be fixed. Thus, reducing consumption is a must, says a deputy energy minister who also is director of the National Water and Wastewater Engineering Company of Iran (Abfa) said.
Qasem Taqizadeh Khamesi sounded the alarm Monday at the 6th Regional Conference on Climate Change in Tehran, IRNA reported.
“Climate change now is a serious issue all over the world. After 10 years of perpetual drought, 2017 was the driest in recent decades. From the beginning of 2018 we have had the highest amount of rainfall. This also is the result of climate change. The snowfall we had early this week is yet another bad sign because it is unusual to see snow in Iran in November,” he said.
Iran is a dry country and the rise and fall in precipitation levels are a characteristic of arid regions.
“Forecasts show that water demand will increase by 77% by 2050 globally. Iran is no exception because it is a developing country. However, our water resources will be the same, and a comprehensive solution is necessary,” Taqizadeh Khamesi noted, adding that using seawater for industries in some provinces has been suggested and the Energy Ministry has issued permits in this regard.
Agriculture Sector
Regarding the agriculture sector, which consumes the most amount of water, he said a lot has been invested in modernizing irrigation systems and networks. “But we do not know exactly how effective the measures have been in reducing consumption”.
According to a government decree, the number of provinces in which rice is planted should be reduced from 17 to two in the next three years to help cut water consumption. After the three-year period, there will be an all-out ban on rice cultivation, except in Gilan and Mazandaran -- the two main rice cultivation regions in north Iran.
“Although this is a difficult task, we have no choice but to change consumption patterns,” Taqizadeh Khamesi told the conferees.
Under the present dire conditions, planting water-intensive crops like rice will further impact the rapidly diminishing water resources.
Agricultural and environmental experts have been urging the government for years to restrict rice farming to the water-rich provinces of Gilan and Mazandaran and ban the cultivation of this staple crop in other parts of the country.
Apart from the two northern provinces, rice is produced in Khuzestan, Isfahan, Fars, Kohgilouyeh-Boyerahmad, Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari, Ilam, Qazvin, Lorestan, Zanjan, Sistan-Baluchestan, Kurdestan, Ardabil, East Azarbaijan and North Khorasan provinces. This is while most of these provinces are facing an acute water shortage.
The 1st Regional Climate Change Conference was held in 1996 in Tehran, with the aim of sharing experience on climate change issues.
Climate change and its impacts are among the most important challenges at the present era. The role of climate change in all sectors, including health, agriculture, water resources management, and transportation, has become of paramount importance.
Extreme weather conditions plus heat waves, drought and dust storms are major signs of climate change in Iran.
The 6th edition of the conference, November 18-19, focused on the issues related to drought, environmental problems, water crisis and its social and economic consequences.
