Hour Al-Azim Wetland Water Plan Suspended

The project on channeling agricultural and industrial runoff from western Ahvaz in Khuzestan Province to Hour al-Azim Wetland has been suspended due to environmental reasons.

In a not so tactful effort to combat dust storms bothering the southwestern province and to rescue the imperiled wetland, authorities decided to implement a short-term plan of feeding Hour al-Azim with runoff from the Khuzestan plains.

“In line with the plan, the provincial Water and Power Authority started to lay pipelines near the wetland, without coordination with DOE,” Mousa Mad’haji, the head of the provincial office of the Department of Environment, was quoted as saying by ISNA.

He added that according to a recently passed act on protection and management of wetlands, such attempts are considered destructive and have been suspended.

Reportedly, the volume of water directed into Hour al-Azim from Karkheh River in the last couple of months had eased the poor condition of the wetland and so feeding the wetland with agricultural and urban wastewaters was unnecessary, especially given the potential risks they pose to the ecosystem.

The excessive withdrawal of water from Karkheh River and a rise in evaporation in midsummer had given the wetland a water shock.  

Located on Iran-Iraq border, over one-third of Hour al-Azim has suffered serious damage as a result of human activities. The construction of Karkheh Dam and roads, as well as oil extraction, have inflicted the biggest damage on the wetland.