Isfahan Province has been suffering from drought for years. It is facing new problems this year due to decline in precipitation that has resulted in further reduction of surface water and groundwater, head of the provincial water company said.
“The severe decline rainfall in the central region this year has caused renewed concerns among the residents and irreparable damage has been inflicted on the farming sector,” IRNA quoted Hashem Amini as saying.
Precipitation since the beginning of the current water year (Sept 2020) has been 124 mm down 50% compared to the same period in the previous water year.
The Iran Meteorological Organization says the deficit will persist by the end of spring. This is more bad news because water levels in Zayandehrud Dam that supplies the province have plunged to new lows.
Built on the famous Zayandehrud River, 10 kilometers east of Chadegan in Isfahan, the dam has a capacity to hold 1.4 billion cubic meters of water. Reports say now the level is near 310 million cubic meters.
A recent report by the Iran Meteorological Organization said 80% of the region is affected by drought and the situation could worse before it gets better.
Dry River
In the not too distant past Zayandehrud River had regular and significant water flow, but is almost dry for more than eight months to the detriment of farmers largely depend on the river for their livelihood.
Once the pride of the region, Zayandeh River originates in the mountains of Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari Province and flows eastward toward Isfahan before ending up in the famous Gavkhouni Wetland.
According to Amini, the need to treat and reuse wastewater is crucial more than ever before to cope with the worsening crisis.
“Almost 172 million cubic meters of wastewater is recycled in the province a year,” he said, adding that of the total 60% or 100 mcm is used for farming and the rest by industries, green spaces, watersheds and anti-desertification programs.
After Yazd, Isfahan is the second biggest industrial hub in the country and 70% of Iran’s steel is manufactured in the province, which explains why tapping into unconventional water resources has become a pressing demand.
Gavkhouni Wetland
As Zayandehrud has dried up, only 4% of the surface of Gavkhouni Wetland is covered by water. The wetland stretches over 47,000 hectares and its water rights include 176 million cubic meters of water from Zayandehrud annually. For all practical purposes this right, or whatever is left of it, has been assigned to the annals of history.
Gavkhouni, which is home to a variety of species of migratory birds, has been struggling with declining water levels over the past decade. Once a popular destination for migratory birds, typically at the beginning of winter, recent surveys show the numbers coming to the wetland have declined significantly.
The number of migratory birds in the wetland has decreased to less than 2,000 and the continuation of such conditions will threaten the very survival of more birds. In addition, drying up of the wetland is giving rise to worsening dust storms affecting Isfahan and seven other provinces.
Groundwater Resources Depleting
Disorganized urbanization, old and obsolete farming practices and the presence of water-intensive industries such as Mobarakeh Steel Company are adding pressure on the region’s rapidly dwindling water reserves.
Groundwater resources in the parched province are shrinking by a massive 3.6 billion cubic meters per annum. Of the total annual extraction, 3.3 bcm is by 41,000 authorized wells and the rest from 21,000 illegal wells.
Over 7,000 unauthorized wells have been sealed since 2005 which helped save 215 million cubic meters of water a year in the dry central region. The drop in groundwater levels is estimated at an average one to 1.5 meters a year.
Excessive groundwater overdraft has resulted in slow but steady land subsidence in the region. The subsidence rate in the different plains is estimated between 15 cm and 18 cm.
Besides land subsidence, groundwater overdraft leads to destruction of vegetation, increase in dust storms and higher salt content in groundwater.
