An urgent water pipeline project is expected to curb the growing water crisis in the cities of Abadan, Khorramshahr, Darkhovein and Shadegan in the southern Khuzestan Province within two weeks. Organized by Khatam al-Anbiya Construction Headquarters, an Iranian engineering company affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, the scheme aims to supply water to 25 cities and over 1,600 villages in the oil-rich region that has been grappling with serious water problems, ILNA reported.
Brigadier General Ebadollah Abdollahi, the headquarters’ chief executive, said hard work is underway to start water supply to the four cities by mid July.
"Despite the sizzling temperature of over 50 degrees Celsius, which rises to over 65-70 degrees inside the pipelines, the operation is continuing round the clock to make the project operational and tackle people's problem as soon as possible," he said.
The project provides for a 90-Kilometer water pipeline that will start from Karkheh Dam and gradually supply water to the cities and villages.
Abdollahi noted that all the equipment used in the project, including pumping tools, electromotor and boosting stations with a capacity of transferring over 10 cubic meters of water per second, have been set and are ready for implementation.
The next phase involving several other cities, including the province's capital city of Ahvaz, will be launched upon the completion of the current phase.
The 2,000-millimeter water pipeline was expected to be tested on Wednesday.
Water Crisis
The southwestern province has recently seen its water supply strained to critical levels, leaving most of its population without potable water.
The worsening water scarcity prompted street protests by the aggrieved people of Khorramshahr in recent days.
They were venting anger mainly over the poor management of water resources, which let salty, sludgy water flow into the city's supply network.
Gholamreza Shariati, the governor general of Khuzestan province, said tap water that people get in these two cities is salty.
"The salinity level of drinking water in Abadan and Khorramshahr has risen to 12,000 EC units, rendering it completely undrinkable," he said.
Given the growing trend of drought over the past few years and a shortage of resources to provide drinking and irrigation water in areas such as Khorramshahr and Abadan, the government drew up an extensive plan to tackle the issue.
The measures had culminated in a decision made by the Cabinet in 2017 on water and sewage infrastructure, power grid stability and environmental problems in Khuzestan.
According to Farahmand Hashemizadeh, the deputy governor general of Khuzestan for development affairs, Khorramshahr and Abadan respectively need a maximum of 90,000 and 150,000 cubic meters of water daily, IRIB reported last week.
Domestic and international organizations alike have warned that the prospect of a devastating drought is looming large over parts of Iran. "Although Iran has a history of drought, it has experienced its most prolonged, extensive and severe drought in over 30 years," the Food and Agriculture Organization, a United Nations agency, said in a recent report.
Iranian officials have acknowledged that outdated agricultural and irrigation systems and poor water management in the past three decades have contributed to nationwide water shortages.
