Currently, only 25% of the dams in Markazi Province are full, while the figure was 43% last year, the managing director of the regional water company in the province said on Wednesday.
“So far this year, 137 millimeters of precipitation have been registered in the province, while the amount was 145 mm last year and 150 millimeters in the long-term [50-year] average,” Ezzatollah Ameri was also quoted as saying by ISNA.
“This year, rainfall has not been distributed evenly, and more rainfall was registered in the southern regions of the province,” he added.
Referring to the poor conditions of the dams of the province, he said Saveh Dam can hold 277 million cubic meters of water, but there is only 50 mcm of water in it, meaning it is only 18% full.
Last year, the dam had 110 mcm of water.
Regarding Delijan Dam, the official said the capacity of the dam reservoir is 95 mcm but now there is 30 mcm of water behind this dam. “This is while last year, the figure was 45 mcm, which shows 32% of the dam’s volume is filled with water”.
In a bid to help address the water issues in Saveh County, the provincial capital, the project to transfer water from Kouchari Dam in the central Isfahan Province to Saveh is underway and is expected to be completed in about a year.
So far, about half of the total 120 km transmission line has been put in place and the installation of the rest will be completed with the help of the Energy Ministry.
When launched, the water supply project from Kouchari Dam to Saveh and surrounding villages will transfer 440 liters of water per second to 300,000 people.
The project requires about $40 million and will transfer 14 million cubic meters of water per year, when completed.
Kouchari Dam
With a capacity of 207 million cubic meters of water, Kouchari Dam was constructed in 2016.
Located southwest of Golpayegan County, it supplies water to several cities in the provinces of Isfahan, Qom and Markazi, including Delijan, Saveh, Qom, Khansar, Khomein, Golpayegan, Mahallat and Salafchegan.
Water is currently supplied to Saveh by the Al-Ghadir Dam and 29 wells, the quality of which is not suitable for drinking.
Rapidly declining water resources have compelled the government to increase the number of plains from which water withdrawal is banned from 69 in 1968 to 405 at present. There are 25 proscribed plains in Markazi Province.
Of the total 3 billion cubic meters of renewable water in the province, 91% are used for farming, 5% for drinking and 4% by industries.
Surface water comprises 700 million cubic meters of renewable water and 2.3 bcm are extracted from groundwater resources.
Reducing water consumption in the agro sector and increasing efficiency using drip irrigation are other measures taken by the provincial water managers.
Drip irrigation is one of the efficient systems used across the world. Instead of irrigating the whole field, water is supplied only to the plant root. The primary goal of drip irrigation is to supply water when plants need it most and at rates needed for proper plant growth.
