Efficacy, Wisdom of Water Supply Schemes Questioned

Plans to supply desalinated water from the Persian Gulf and Caspian Sea to the arid and drought-hit plains of central Iran will only offer a temporary solution and cannot help fight drought in the long run, director of the Forecasting and Early Warning Office at the Iran Meteorological Organization said.
“Water diversion schemes are a recipe for disaster in the long run, not only due to the exorbitant expenses involved but also because of their catastrophic impact on the ecosystem,” IRNA also quoted Ahad Vazifeh as saying.
In inter-basin water transfer projects, costs outweigh benefits. Long-term environmental damage, such as depletion of groundwater resources and land subsidence, is irreversible, he added.
Inter-basin transfer, or trans-basin diversion refers to manmade conveyance schemes that move water from one river basin to another where water is in deficit, usually for development purposes.