Close to $60 million are needed to rehabilitate 7,000 qanats in the dry South Khorasan Province, the head of Water Affairs Department of Agricultural Organization said.
“Of the total fund, $10 million have been allocated to recondition 290 qanats that extend over 70 kilometers,” Akbar Mohammadi was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
The dry region’s annual demand for water in the agro sector amounts to 800 million cubic meters, of which 570 mcm are extracted from 2,000 wells, 200 mcm from qanats and the rest are supplied from springs, he added.
Noting that close to one liter of water per second can be drawn from each qanat, Mohammadi said the figure was 10 times more 40 years ago, but the digging of deep wells has taken a heavy toll on underground aqueducts.
“The rehabilitation of qanats is necessary, as it can boost water extraction from the subterranean infrastructure by at least 30%,” he said.
Policy- and decision-makers are gradually realizing that sustainable water supply, environmental protection and agro sector growth, among other things, demand the restoration of qanats.
For centuries, human societies in dry lands have overcome the challenge of water scarcity through traditional means of water harvesting. Qanat technology is one. It is the generic term for an ancient, environmentally sustainable water harvesting and conveyance technique that is believed to have originated in Persia in the first millennium B.C.
“With the timely rehab of qanats, water shortages in the dry regions like South Khorasan can be alleviated,” he said, and concurred that many qanats have fallen into disrepair.
The remaining are threatened by silt sedimentation in canals, urban migration and lack of skills to improve such systems.
Smart Meters
According to Saeed Pourjafar, deputy of Protection and Operation Department at the South Khorasan Regional Water Company, equipping water wells with smart meters helped save more than 111 million cubic meters of water in the agro sector in 2021.
“So far, 1,850 wells have been equipped with smart meters, constituting 89% of the province's agricultural wells. The remaining will be upgraded by the end of winter,” he said.
“Last year, 650 mcm of water were extracted from authorized wells. With the smart meters, withdrawals dropped to 570 mcm.”
Iran’s agro sector consumes almost 90% of water.
Pourjafar noted that there are 2,000 authorized wells active in the province.
Equipping agricultural wells with smart meters has helped reduce deficits in the province's reservoir. Located in eastern Iran, South Khorasan’s dry climate and desert terrain make farming difficult. An estimated 35% of the population depend on agriculture.
Water scarcity and droughts pose serious threats to the livelihood of farming communities and the economy in many parts of the country, especially in the expansive Khorasan region.
