The Department of Environment opposes drilling operations to extract water from a depth of 1,000-3,000 meters, a deputy manager at the state-run organization said.
“Although 15 deep wells are being dug in Sistan-Baluchestan Province, DOE has voiced its opposition to the plan, as geological surveys have proved that water extracted from ultra-deep wells is not safe even if it is treated,” Touraj Fat’hi was also quoted as saying by ISNA.
The implementation of such plans are not viable in Iran, as the extracted water contains a large amount of dissolved substances, including radioactive materials, is warmer and has a low flow rate, he added.
“We can reach water at a depth of 1,500 meters, but its salinity is higher than that of seawater and must be desalinated before utilizing it,” he said.
Referring to the ongoing project in Sistan-Baluchestan Province, Fat’hi noted that two wells have been drilled and are operational now, one in Ramshar region and one in Nimruz County.
“However, water supply to several cities of the southeastern province will be made possible through other initiatives, including the desalination of water from Chah-Nimeh water reservoirs and transfer of water from the Sea of Oman,” he said.
Chah-Nimeh reservoirs contain three natural and big cavities in the south of Sistan Plain, 50 kilometers from Zabol. Surplus water from Hirmand River flows into it via a canal. The reservoirs, with a capacity of 700 million cubic meters, constitute one-seventh of Hamoun Wetland.
The extraction of water from deep wells will not augment sustainable supplies to the water-stressed province. Lab tests in Iran show water extracted from deep wells is not safe even after undergoing treatment, as it contains radioactive materials.
Perpetual drought has been accompanied by a dangerous decline in rainfall, worsening the water crisis in Sistan-Baluchestan.
On average, the southeast region gets about 60 mm of annual rainfall in autumn and winter, while winter is the rainiest season with more than 50% of annual rainfall. However, last winter, precipitation reached 0.4 mm, the lowest in 50 years.
Inter-Basin Water Transfers
Although experts strongly oppose inter-basin water transfers as environmentally hazardous, the government has said the costly water transfer from the Oman Sea is the last resort. Such initiatives, however, are highly costly and take years while drilling deep wells are less expensive and take much less time.
The first two wells drilled at 3,000 meters in the region are an artesian well but water flow is slow. The transfer of water from Oman Sea needs desalination units costing $1.6 billion and at least three years for completion.
In the past, Hirmand (also known as Helmand) River in Afghanistan, supplied water to the eastern regions. But after building dams over the river, the Kabul government stopped the water flow to Iran.
The outcome is that people in the southeastern regions have been grappling with water and food problems, as their livelihood depends largely on farming and animal husbandry. Following chronic and severe water shortages, large numbers of people lost their jobs and started migrating to bigger cities.
Iran and Afghanistan signed a treaty in 1973, which says Iran's share from Helmand is 22 cubic meters per second.
Reportedly, the treaty was to the detriment of Iran because it recognized all dams and canals that the Afghans had built on the shared basin, which reduced Iran’s annual water right to as low as 800 million cubic meters (less than 10% of the river’s annual water flow).
The result has been that in the past two decades, the part of Helmand River inside Iran is dry for almost 10 months a year.
