About 1,000 kilometers of water pipelines were laid in Sistan-Baluchestan Province to supply water to the rural areas of southeastern regions in the last Iranian year (March 2022-23), the water supply project’s executive representative said.
“More than 4,000 km of piping operations are supposed to be carried out in the province,” IRNA also quoted Mostafa Siasar as saying.
“About 1,175 villages in the province will be provided with drinking water upon the completion of the project,” he added.
According to the official, the water supply project is supposed to be completed within 30 months.
Currently, 72% of the rural population in Sistan-Baluchestan have access to drinking water.
The vast and arid province in southeast Iran has long been troubled with water shortage. Perpetual drought has been accompanied by a dangerous decline in rainfall, worsening the water crisis in the province.
“In addition to the ongoing project, water transfer from the Sea of Oman is another plan that can address the water issues of the vast province although it is costly,” Siasar said.
Water Transfer
The water transfer project is being carried out in cooperation with industrial and mining companies, he said, adding that the Sea of Oman, as the only source of sustainable water supply in its proximity, has the potential to meet the drinking water needs of the province.
Executive operations to transfer 200 million cubic meters of desalinated water per year from the Sea of Oman to Sistan-Baluchestan are underway.
In the first phase set for completion in 2024, desalinated water will be delivered to the counties of Sistan-Baluchestan and then the pipeline will be extended to South Khorasan and Khorasan Razavi provinces. The project includes a transmission line stretching over 1,530 km.
The transmission line to Sistan-Baluchestan Province is 820 km long and its construction is estimated to cost $1.66 billion.
The daily water deficit in Zahedan, capital of Sistan-Baluchestan, is about 100,000 cubic meters.
Water supply to the city, with a population of 900,000 people, is as low as 150,000 cubic meters per day, which is adequate for only 300,000 residents.
Chabahar is another parched region that needs at least 354,000 cubic meters of water per day.
Transferring water without harming the environment is an obligation of the government. To find the most cost-effective mode, multifaceted studies on the area’s ecological and environmental conditions, as well as the environmental impact of water projects, have been carried out.
When the project becomes fully operational, an estimated 700 million cubic meters of freshwater will be supplied annually to Sistan-Baluchestan, South Khorasan and Khorasan Razavi provinces for drinking and industrial use.
Drilling Wells
The drilling of deep wells is another solution to help alleviate water tension in Sistan-Baluchestan.
The first phase of a desalination plant in Nimruz County was launched late summer to help supply drinking water to the urban and rural areas of the region from the third deep water well drilled in the province.
The desalination plant has started operating with a capacity of 1,000 cubic meters per day.
The first two deep water wells drilled at a depth of 3,000 meters in the region are an artesian well and water from such wells flows without pumping.
The drilling of seven more deep water wells is on the agenda of the provincial authority for supplying drinking water to cities and villages of the underdeveloped province.
Other than digging deep wells, water supply to several cities of the southeastern province will be made possible through other initiatives, including collecting water from Chah-Nimeh reservoirs.
Chah-Nimeh reservoirs are three natural and big cavities in the southern Sistan Plain, 50 kilometers from Zabol. Surplus water from Hirmand River flows into them via a canal. The reservoirs, with a capacity of 700 million cubic meters, constitute one-seventh of Hamoun Wetland.
