Mashhad Drought Unprecedented

Precipitation in Khorasan Razavi Province has plummeted by a massive 60% over the last two years, which is unprecedented in the past 50 years, managing director of Mashhad Water and Wastewater Company said.
“Since the beginning of the last water year [ended Sept. 22, 2022), rainfall has declined by 25% compared with the long-term average, causing the volume of water in 16 dams of the region to reduce by about 80%,” Hossein Esmaeilian was also quoted as saying by the Energy Ministry’s news portal.
Dams in and around Mashhad are less than 20% full and supplying water to the metropolis will be a major challenge unless available resources are managed with utmost care, he added, noting that ground and surface water resources are in critical conditions and the drought in the region is unparalleled over the last half a century.
“We are in dire need of efficient water management,” he said.