A national workgroup to tackle water shortage will be established by mid-March, the managing director of Iran Water Resources Management Company said on Monday.
“In the past, we tried to confront drought, but we should now admit that Iran has to move toward adapting itself to water shortage,” Mohammad Haj-Rasouliha was also quoted as saying by ILNA.
According to the official, the Department of Environment and Management and Planning Organization of Iran, as well as agriculture, industries and interior ministries will be the members of the workgroup, with the Energy Ministry leading the new entity.
Stressing that the workgroup’s duty will not be limited to policymaking, the official noted that it will oversee the provincial plans on adapting to water scarcity and help them materialize those projects.
“The governor generals should propose plans to the workgroup, in line with their provinces’ special potentials and challenges, which can turn into legislative bills, if confirmed by the administration,” he said. Haj-Rasouliha, who is an advisor to the energy minister, said predictions showed that Iran will face water shortage in the current water year (Sept. 23, 2017-Sept. 22, 2018).
“Rainfalls were worse than what we expected, such that the country has had the lowest rate of precipitation in the past 50 years until Feb. 19,” he said.
He added that Iran’s precipitation rate so far stands at an average of 88.9 millimeters, indicating a drop of 40% compared with last year’s corresponding period. “Some provinces, such as Sistan-Baluchestan, Kerman, Yazd, Fars, South Khorasan and Isfahan, registered a fall of over 60% in terms of precipitation, which not only affects farming in the regions, but also lowers ground water levels,” he said.
On the volume of water entering the country’s dams, Haj-Rasouliha said the volume has reduced to 8.7 billion cubic meters from 12.91 billion in the last fiscal, down 31%. According to data from the Energy Ministry, an Iranian uses an average of 250 liters of water per day, while per capita water consumption in metropolises such as Tehran exceeds 400 liters. The global average is around 150 liters.
Located in one of the world’s most water-stressed regions, Iran’s average precipitation rate has been lower than the global average for at least 10 years.
Some experts and environmentalists denounce a widely-held notion that chronic water shortages can be alleviated only by higher precipitation.
Desertification, climate change, illegal water wells, wasteful farming practices, water-intensive industries in arid regions and the injudicious use of water in households are known to have a far greater impact on the worsening crisis.
