Almost 600 smart meters were installed on authorized water wells in Sistan-Baluchestan Province in 2021, the head of Public Relations Office at the provincial water and wastewater company said.
"The installation of smart meters on wells helps control groundwater use by preventing overconsumption and waste,” Mohammad Amin Barani was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
Close to 1.5 billion cubic meters of water are extracted from 17,000 wells, 800 springs and 1,300 aqueducts annually, yet water deficit in the region is about 600 million cubic meters, he added.
Barani noted that if any farmer draws more water than the amount specified from his well, electricity will be cut off automatically, and they will not be reconnected until water and electricity inspectors check the consumption.
“Farmers are required to install smart meters on their wells because it is a legal obligation,” he added.
According to the Energy Ministry, the government-affiliated Power Generation, Distribution and Transmission Company installed 307,000 smart meters for farmers last year in Tehran, Mashhad, Ahvaz, Zanjan and Isfahan.
Agricultural wells and industries are due to be equipped with the system before other sectors because of their high consumption.
One key issue in water management in Iran is the exploitation of groundwater resources.
Barani said illegal water wells are being sealed in the province and farmers who draw water over and above the amount mentioned in their water permit will be penalized.
Habibollah Dahmardeh, a lawmaker from Zabol, said low precipitation in Sistan-Baluchestan Province in the last 12 months is posing new challenges to the agriculture sector in the dry region.
“Rain-fed agriculture is out of question, as average rainfall in the region since the beginning of the current water year [Sept. 23, 2021] until July 4 was barely 60 millimeters. Irrigated farming is impossible because Afghanistan has blocked the flow of water from Hirmand [Helmand] River,” he said.
“The river can hold a maximum of 10 billion cubic meters of water, but it now has only 1 bcm, preventing farmers from cultivating barley and wheat, two major crops in the region.”
Dahmardeh noted that due to limited access to water, farmers can only plant leafy greens (lettuce), cruciferous vegetables (cabbage) and edible plant stems (asparagus), and the cultivation of other products will depend on precipitation in August and September.
Food Shortage
People in the southeastern dry regions are grappling with water and food shortages because their livelihood for centuries has depended on farming and animal husbandry.
Following long and severe water shortages, large numbers have lost their jobs and are migrating to bigger cities, causing a variety of problems for state authorities and urban managers.
Deep-sea explorations, reducing evaporation and transferring desalinated water from the Oman Sea to Sistan-Baluchestan are three major plans to help address the worsening water crisis in the southeast.
“Following deep-sea explorations in 2018, a water reservoir was found at a depth of 2,200 meters below the surface in the province. Being an artesian well, water flows out without pumping,” the MP said, but did not provide details on how and where the water is stored.
Another solution to curb the water crisis is by reducing evaporation. “Annually, the amount of wasted due to evaporation from Chah-Nimeh reservoirs amounts to the volume of water consumed in the province over 10 years,” he added.
The option of transferring desalinated water from the Sea of Oman to central Iran remains controversial.
Although experts insist long-haul water transfer schemes to be environmentally hazardous, desalinated water supply from the Oman Sea is the last resort.
New surveys show that the province will face a serious water crisis by 2022, if timely and effective solutions are not found.
An estimated 1,260 villages in the province lack piped water. Close to 251,000 rural people are supplied drinking water via tankers, at times posing health risks.
