Large swathes in South Khorasan Province are affected by different levels of drought, head of the provincial Metrological Organization said.
“Water paucity poses a serious threat to the livelihood of farming communities and the economy in the arid region and adaptation to water shortages is and will be key to survival,” Alireza Khandan was quoted as saying by IRNA.
On the severity and intensity of drought in the eastern region, Khandan said 20% of the land has moderate drought, which means damage to crops, pastures, streams, reservoirs and voluntary limits on water use.
“Almost 40% of the area has severe drought causing crop and pasture losses as water shortages become commonplace. Thus, water restrictions have been put in place.”
The rest of the province (mainly Boshruyeh and Tabas) is in dire straits (most intense level of drought) resulting in widespread crop and pasture losses plus the impact on reservoirs, streams and wells leading to water emergencies.
Since the beginning of the current water year (Sept. 23), about 12 millimeters of rainfall was registered in the province – down 26% compared to last year.
"Annual water consumption in the province is 1 billion cubic meters, of which 900 million cubic meters is used by farmers," he said, noting that households and industries use 70 mcm and 30 mcm, respectively.
Wells are the primary source of water at 63%. Close to 250 mcm comes from qanat water systems (underground aqueducts) and the rest from groundwater resources like rivers and dams, which too are drying up due to unsustainable extraction for farming and non-agricultural use.
“The pattern of deficits in underground water resources in the province has reached 150 mcm.”
To find workable solutions Khandan said a regional roadmap was drawn up in 2019 and is expected to help annually reduce 25mcm of extraction from illegal wells.
The program calls for also reducing water extraction from legal wells by 25 mcm annually. Rest of the deficit (100 mcm) would be compensated with modern irrigation systems and developing techniques such as aquifers and watershed management.
The universal fact is that the key agro sector is also the largest water user and must do its fair share in addressing the water crisis the scale and scope if which is worsening.
Demand and Supply
According to Kamaleddin Mirjafarian, deputy governor of the northeastern province, water demand and supply patterns in the past show a history of adaptation. For example, due to desert climate and water scarcity, residents of Yazd (the driest city in Iran with annual precipitation of hardly 49 millimeters) have developed impressive methods of water management throughout history, one of which is the use of qanats.
Based on the regional plan of action, an estimated 20 mcm of wastewater will be treated and reused in farming.
"A large volume of potable water is lost due to seepage and rusting pipelines in urban and rural areas (30% and 35% respectively)," he recalled.
Population growth and climate change have become new hazards posing formidable risks to the world population and global water managers
Projections of water supply and demand for the 21st century show that in the absence of further adaptation efforts, serious water shortages are highly likely in some regions, especially in the central plateau.
The bottom line is that while overall ability to adapt has allowed communities to largely avoid crippling water shortages, the future may pose much bigger adaptation challenges. In addition to population growth, climate change has the potential to reduce water supplies and increase demand in many regions across continents.
