The groundbreaking ceremony to start the construction of Godar Khosh Dam in Ilam Province was held on Monday.
The project is expected to be completed within 48 months at a cost of $54 million, ISNA reported.
Addressing the ceremony, the managing director of Ilam Regional Water Company said the dam will provide agricultural and industrial water and play a unique role in the development of Mehran County, especially the city of Salehabad.
“The dam is aimed at collecting surface water for the farming sector, which will help develop agriculture in the region and increase the income of people involved in the field,” Sadeq Alimoradi was also quoted as saying by ISNA.
“Built in Salehabad, Godar Khosh Dam will have a capacity of 151 million cubic meters of water,” he added.
Also speaking at the event, Ilam Governor-General Hassan Bahramnia said there are nine dams in the province, five of which are operational and four dams are in different stages of construction.
Upon completion, Godar Khosh will become the largest dam in Ilam Province, which will irrigate about 7,000 hectares. Its water will also be used by industries in the region.
Two years ago, Konjancham Dam, with a capacity of 85 mcm in Mehran County was launched to help irrigate 2,750 hectares of farmlands in the region.
The most important purpose of building the dam was to store water in the winter to be used later in the agricultural sector and prevent water outflow from the western borders.
Dams are the main source of supplying safe drinking water for 600,000 people in Ilam.
The western province has the capacity to annually produce over 660,000 tons of food, including wheat, barley, corn, sugarbeet, grapes, peach, lemon, olive and walnut. It also annually produces 182,000 tons of animal products, including red meat, chicken, fish, eggs and milk.
Meymeh and Sikan dams, which have registered a work-in-progress rate of 63% and 25% respectively are among the unfinished dam projects.
The former, located in Dehloran County, will store 80 mcm and irrigate 4,000 hectares of agricultural land.
Sikan Dam will help supply potable water to parts of the province and to farmlands near the dam that will hold 12 mcm of water and feed 4,600 hectares of farms.
Regarding water supply projects in the western province, Bahramnia said water supply operations to 200 villages are underway with an investment of $16 million.
