With Tehran's water reserves languishing at their lowest levels this year, scrimping and saving is the only way to head off rationing.
According to Alireza Bakhtiari, director general of Tehran's Regional Water Authority, the inflow of water into the province's dams is predicted to decrease by 400 million cubic meters and flowing waters are expected to shrink by 700 mcm.
"Our snow reserves are nearly empty this year while last year at this time they were filled by about one meter," he said, adding that snow supplies have hit a record low in 50 years.
The official stressed that since weather forecasts point to low precipitation and around 1° Celsius rise in temperature for this year, "we should be concerned for next year from this moment", ILNA reported.
"Last year, we supplied drinking water for Tehran residents with extreme difficulty. The fact that we do not seek recourse to rationing does not mean we are not facing a challenge," he said. Bakhtiari warned that if current conditions persist until 2019 and rainfall remains at this level, water will definitely be rationed in Tehran next year.
However, the existence of five dams in the province provides the chance to avoid turning off taps this summer but only through frugality. Tehran authorities are adopting the same nationwide approaches for battling water scarcity, but specific measures are needed for the capital since it is more vulnerable to the blight due to its huge population and enormous consumption.
The average amount of drinking water used in the country is 6-7% of the resources but the figure reaches 34-35% in the capital, according to Bakhtiari.
Reportedly, Tehran, a sprawling metropolis of 12 million people, uses around 1.2 billion cubic meters of water every year.
The official emphasized that to guarantee the sustained supply of drinking water, "there is no way but to manage consumption".
The recent strain has led to the launch of campaigns in Tehran to raise awareness about the acute scarcity and the need to revise household consumption habits.
A campaign to encourage using less water during the spring cleaning ritual was among the recent moves.
Scourge of Illegal Wells
While the depletion of dam reservoirs is already a cause for concern, the huge number of illegal wells has exacerbated the issue in the capital.
"To weather the crisis in the farming sector, we have to both prevent over extraction and block illegal wells," he said.
He called on governorates, police forces and the judiciary to cooperate in dealing with illegal wells.
Last year, 1,400 wells were blocked, a crackdown which was described as "unprecedented" by Bakhtiari.
"This year, too, we are heading for the closure of 3,000 wells although the set targets call for blocking 1,500," he said.
The prolonged drought and the steady drop in precipitation have drawn Iran into a state of crisis regarding the supply of water for both drinking and agricultural purposes.
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.The climatic conditions combined with high consumption and waste has led to the country's renewable resources tumbling to significantly low levels.
