A 70% decline in surface water resources of Kermanshah Province, which is the main source of drinking water supply to rural areas, has caused serious shortage of water in several villages, managing director of the provincial Water and Wastewater Company said.
“With a decrease of 190 mm of rainfall in the current water year [started September 2020] compared to the previous year, Kermanshah Province had the highest decline in precipitation among all provinces of the country and is therefore facing serious problems regarding drinking water supply,” IRNA also quoted Alireza Kakavand as saying.
“According to Iran Meteorological Organization, the drought in Kermanshah is unprecedented in the last 50 years. Currently, water is supplied to 170 villages in the western province through mobile tankers,” he said, adding that the number would surpass 300 in the summer if the problem is not addressed.
Kakavand said to compensate for the shortage of drinking water in the villages, dig 70 wells will be dug to supply water to 450 villages.
“The plan needs an investment of $25 million but the provincial Water and Wastewater Company has received no money from the related organizations yet,” he added.
Kermanshah Province has a population of 2 million people. Out of 540,000 water subscribers in the province, 140,000 live in rural regions.
Urban Water Supply
A water treatment plant in Kermanshah City, the capital of the namesake province, is scheduled to come on stream in summer, managing director of the regional water company said.
Construction of the plant has registered over 90% progress and when operational, the entire one million population of the city will have access to potable water, IRNA reported Bahram Darvishi as saying.
“There are 12 storage dams in the province with a total capacity of 1.35 billion cubic meters,” Darvishi said, but noted that due to the decline in rainfall, water resources in the region leave much to be desired.
“The plant in the western province will receive water from Gavshan Dam in the neighboring Kurdestan Province. Installation work of the water transmission line from the dam to the treatment plant has been completed.”
With a capacity of 552 million cubic meters of water, Gavshan Dam is located on Gaveh River, 40 km south of Sanandaj, capital city of Kurdestan Province, which is 75 km north of Kermanshah Province. Water from the dam's reservoir is transferred for irrigation in Kurdestan and Kermanshah via the 20-km Gavshan water conveyance tunnel. The dam also supports an 11-megawatt hydroelectric power station.
About 189 million cubic meters of water will be transferred annually to 310 square kilometers of farmlands in the two western regions.
When the plant in Kermanshah is up and running, 63 mcm of drinking water from the reservoir will be supplied to Kermanshah.
Other Projects
Several projects have been launched recently in Kermanshah counties to improve water supply for drinking and farming.
One project is the Sharaf Shah Dam in Qasr-e-Shirin County, with a storage capacity of 101 million cubic meter, which provides clean water to Sumar and Naft Shahr, two cities bordering Iraq in the western province.
Sharaf Shah Dam also provides water for 3,000 plus hectares of farms in the region, especially in Sumar, which city was occupied by the invading Ba’ath Army of Iraq during the 1980-88 Iraq-imposed war.
Farming and animal husbandry are key occupations in the region that is known for its citrus fruits, grapes and dates.
The construction of two water treatment plants in Saqqez and Sahneh counties is underway and will meet the needs of 110,000 people.
An inflatable rubber dam has been built on Sirwan River with a capacity of 280,000 cubic meters of water.
Inflatable rubber dams are cylindrical rubber fabrics placed across channels, streams and rivers to raise the upstream water level when inflated. The fabric is flexible but has good wear-resistance characteristics.
Rubber dams are one of the most useful and inexpensive ways of containing surface waters. The main advantage of rubber dams is there is no sediment accumulation. This is a big plus, as it removes the need for dredging, which is costly and sometimes harmful for the environment.
