The executive operation of the project to transfer water from the Aras River to urban and industrial regions in northwest Iran has started on Wednesday.
The project started with pipe-laying in the village of Zal, located 20 kilometers from Iran’s border with Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan, ILNA reported.
The project is mainly aimed at providing water to 1.75 million people living in Tabriz, capital city of East Azarbaijan Province and Iran’s sixth largest city, and towns and villages around it by 2026.
It will also supply water to Aras Free Zone and other industrial regions in East Azarbaijan and provide the environmental rights of Lake Urmia in West Azarbaijan Province.
With a total length of 1,072 kilometers and a watershed area of 102,000 square km, the Aras River is of immense strategic significance in the Caucasus region.
Originating in Turkey, Aras flows eastward and forms international boundaries between Armenia and the Azerbaijan Republic to the north and between Turkey and Iran in the south. It finally joins the Kura River in Azerbaijan Republic before reaching the Caspian Sea.
The water transfer project’s completion will need $485 million and include 110 kilometers of pipelines, three pumping stations, one treatment facility and 11 water storage facilities.
East Azarbaijan's share of water from the Aras River amounts to 282 million cubic meters a year, of which 180 mcm will be used for farming and industries, and the rest by households.
The agriculture sector in East Azarbaijan has a 12% share in Iran’s gross domestic product, 20% share in employment and an 80% share in meeting food demand.
The province is home to 1.22 million hectares of farms. Raisins, dairy products, tomato paste, apple juice, onions, lettuce and cabbage are the main agricultural products of the province.
Iran is situated in an arid and semi-arid region and average precipitation rate has fallen to levels way below the global average while underground water resources are depleting rapidly.
The average annual rainfall in the world is 750 millimeters, but the figure is 250 mm in Iran, which is one-third of the global average.
The average global per capita water consumption is 150 liters per day but the average per capita water consumption in East Azarbaijan is 220 liters per day. This amount reaches 250 liters per day in summer when the temperature goes up and water consumption increases.
About 75% of Tabriz drinking water are supplied from Zarrinehroud and Nahand dams. However, as the equipment of water treatment plants and pumping stations in the two dams are more than 25 years old, so in case any problem arises, drinking water supply to Tabriz metropolis will face serious challenges.
The completion of Aras water transmission line will help the city in this regard, as it can ensure a sustainable water supply for the people in the northwestern city.
Reviving Lake Urmia
Plans are also underway to annually supply 105 mcm of treated wastewater from nearby cities like Tabriz and Urmia to Lake Urmia.
Transferring reclaimed wastewater to the lake is a practical solution without environmental costs, which can help revive the troubled inland water body.
Once the second-largest saltwater lake in the Middle East, the lake attracted birds and bathers to bask in its turquoise waters in northwest Iran. However, nearly three decades of drought have shriveled the basin, shrinking it by a shocking 90%.
With a total investment of $100 million, the West Azarbaijan Water and Wastewater Company is building several treatment plants in cities located in the lake's catchment areas.
The construction of the second phase of the wastewater treatment plant in Tabriz, East Azarbaijan Province, will be completed by the end of the current Iranian year (March 2023) and will help raise the annual inflow of treated wastewater to Lake Urmia by 125%, as it will transfer 75 million cubic meters of reclaimed sewage to the lake per year.
The scheme will collect and reclaim sewage produced by at least 1 million people in Tabriz and the output will be directly transferred to the lake.
Tabriz produces a huge amount of wastewater, the treatment of which could feed the lake despite its long distance from the lake. Close to 70% of Tabriz's urban areas are connected to the wastewater system.
An estimated 60 mcm of reclaimed wastewater enter Lake Urmia every year, part of which is from treatment plants in Naqadeh, Mahabad, Miandoab, Salmas and Boukan in the northwestern province.
