The construction of Kerman water treatment plant in the namesake province has made 70% progress and is expected to become operational in the fall, the head of provincial water company said.
“The facility will have a capacity of processing 3,000 liters per second,” Ali Rashidi was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
The required equipment have been transported to the plant and its installation is underway, he added.
The official noted that the water transfer project from Nesa Dam to rural areas of Bam and Baravat has progressed by 55%.
“The initiative, aimed at supplying village dwellers in the region with quality piped water, is expected to come on stream by December,” he said.
Close to 60 km of pipeline have been laid and operations to build a pumping station and a water treatment facility is underway. About $20 million have been spent on the plan so far and $50 million are needed to complete the venture on time.
According to Rashidi, the same pipeline will be used to transfer piped water to other rural districts in Narmashir, Rigan and Fahroj counties.
Although water transfer from the Persian Gulf to Sirjan in Kerman Province eased the water crisis in industries like Golgohar Mining and Industrial Complex, other parts of the region are still suffering from a chronic shortage.
“The formation of water markets to alleviate the paucity could be a new approach whereby buyers and sellers trade water through short- and long-term leases and the permanent sale of water rights within catchments,” Mohammad Reza Pour-Ebrahimi, the chairman of Majlis Economic Commission, said.
Jiroft Dam
The operation of a project to transfer water to Jiroft and Anbarabad cities in Kerman Province from Jiroft Dam started on Feb. 9.
The project is expected to be completed in three years, with an investment of about $18.5 million.
Aimed at supplying 29.1 million cubic meters of drinking water per year to the two cities, the plan includes the installation of 32.4 kilometers of a transmission line from Jiroft Dam to the treatment plant in Jiroft City and also 38.5 km of pipelines to Anbarabad.
One of the largest dams in Iran, Jiroft Dam was built about 30 years ago on the Halil River 40 km northeast of Jiroft City. It plays an important role in supplying the water needed by the farming sector in southern Kerman.
With a capacity of around 410 million cubic meters of water, the dam water is now used to irrigate 14,200 hectares of farmlands in the region.
Since its establishment in 1992, the dam has been used only for agricultural purposes. However, due to problems related to the supply of drinking water in the province, the dam will also provide potable water for people in the near future.
Water tension in the dry area has aggravated over the last decade and many households have started to evacuate villages.
Each year, a massive 6 billion cubic meters of water are withdrawn from the drought-stricken province’s aquifers, of which 95%, 2% and 3% are respectively used by agricultural, industrial and household sectors.
The plains around Kerman no longer have the capacity for deeper wells to reach groundwater, and water transfer is apparently the only viable option.
Water demand in Kerman is 3,000 liters/second while maximum supply capacity is 1,850 liters/second.
The province’s drinking water comes from 365 wells, three springs, eight aqueducts and two dams.
The desert province, as is the case in most other regions in Iran, has been grappling with drought for years and piling pressure on urban authorities.
