Iran is among the countries facing extreme water stress and the situation is very likely to deteriorate this summer due to low rainfall since the current water year (began Sept 2020), the chairman of the Technical Committee for Flood Evaluation & Dam Safety at the Iranian National Committee on Large Dams said.
“It is forecast that at least 200 cities in Iran will face water paucity in summer. However, the amount of rainfall can influence that number,” Mehr News Agency quoted Mostafa Fadaei as saying.
Water scarcity, which is broadly the lack of access to adequate quantities of water for human and environmental use, is increasingly being recognized in many countries as a serious and growing concern.
One of the most commonly used measures of water scarcity is the ‘Falkenmark Indicator’ or ‘water stress index’. This method defines water scarcity in terms of the total water resources available to the population of a region; measuring scarcity as the amount of renewable freshwater available for each person a year.
If the amount of renewable water in a country is below 1,700 cubic meters per person per year, that country is said to be experiencing water stress. If below 1,000 cubic meters it is said to be experiencing water scarcity and below 500 cubic meters, absolute water scarcity.
“Based on latest data of the Energy Ministry, the amount of renewable water resources in the country has dropped below 100 billion cubic meters. According to the Falkenmark Indicator there is about 1,100 cubic meters of water for every Iranian per year, which shows that we are approaching water scarcity,” Fadaei said.
Making a bad situation worse, Iranians consume about 80% of the renewable resources annually while the global average is 40%, he said.
Land Subsidence
Referring to land subsidence as one of the most important consequences of water stress, Fadaei said, “In Iran land subsidence is occurring in most plains. The phenomenon has exacerbated in the past five decades due to long periods of drought and excessive groundwater overdraft. According to some reports, land subsidence in some parts of the country has exceeded 30 centimeters per year.”
Although continuous drought, as a natural factor, can be “considered as one of the main causes of declining groundwater levels and consequently the occurrence of land subsidence, drilling wells (legal and illegal) and excessive extraction of groundwater, especially in the agriculture sector, are the most important human factors that have contributed to the occurrence of land subsidence,” he noted.
Indifference toward these issues will lead to the destruction of underground reservoirs, lead to further reduction of renewable water resources and increase the frequency of floods, he warned.
Water Markets
According to Fadaei, many countries have turned to water markets to better manage their limited water resources. Water trade has become a vital business tool for farmers in many countries such as Spain, Australia and the US to name a few.
Setting up water markets where buyers and sellers trade water both through short- and long-term leases and permanent sale of water rights can help deal with water shortages. This system allows farmers to buy and sell water depending on actual need. Water markets encourage more efficient water use.
“Water plays an important role in sustainable development. Water is considered a commodity for drinking and agricultural and industrial use that creates value. Every valuable and rare commodity has a price depending on supply and demand. Indeed water is an economic commodity for which a market price can be set,” Fadaei noted.
Of the total water consumption in Iran (over 100 billion cubic meters) 90% is in agriculture. Households and industries account for 7% and 3%, respectively.
Water markets can help allocation of more water to economic sectors with high productivity rates. The farming sector in Iran, uses more water relative to its economic output than other sectors.
The government has been mulling establishing water markets since 2016 for which comprehensive studies have been conducted.
According to reports, the first such market will be piloted in Khorasan Razavi Province and with desired results the approach will be extended across the nation.
The Iranian National Committee on Large Dams was established in 1970 in Tehran to promote dam construction knowhow in the areas of design, construction, operation, repair and maintenance of large dams. It soon joined the International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD).
Affiliated to the Energy Ministry, the IRCOLD has more than 3,500 members, including university teachers, senior managers and water experts.
