The drought-stricken southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan will see more days with no or negligible rainfall during the upcoming water year (starts September 23), head of the weather forecast team at the province’s Meteorology Office said.
Unfortunately, the province has received merely 29.4 millimeters of rain since the beginning of the current water year (September 23, 2017), which marks a 74% fall compared with its long-term average, IRNA quoted Ali Mollashahi as saying.
“The sharp drop in precipitation this year has rendered the province the driest area in the country. This should be a warning for relevant authorities to think of an efficient strategy for the coming water year,” he added.
The province is also the second driest in the long-term period after the central province of Yazd.
Drought is more severe in the northern regions of the province, according to Mollashahi, with Zabol only receiving 10 millimeters of rain over the past 11 months.
“The neighboring provinces including South Khorasan and Hormozgan have also been suffering from acute lack of rain and have recorded a significant decline since Sept. 23,” the official said.
Moreover, weather forecasts do not give good tidings either as the predicted rainfalls are not expected to make up for the the dire shortage in the province.
“One should not expect past rainfalls in the upcoming months since not only the amount of precipitation is falling, but also the type of the rains has changed,” Mollashahi said.
The constant rains have been replaced by occasional showers and snowfalls have decreased dramatically, he explained.
Main Cause
According to Mahmoud Dianati, head of weather monitoring group at the provincial meteorological office, the main reason behind the long-lasting aridity in the southeastern province is that it is located where the crossing raining systems wear away.
“Mediterranean, Sudan and monsoon climate systems are the meteorological systems affecting the weather conditions in the province. But the problem is that when they reach the area, they have almost lost all their strength,” Dianati said.
Furthermore, there are no considerable highlands to sustain the humidity in the area, he added.
The other reason is the change in raining patterns, the official said.
“Heavy downpours and snow storms, although not so frequent, have mostly disappeared and scattered and short-time rainfalls are the only things feeding the thirsty soils if any at all,” Dianati said.
Poor rainfall during the ending water year and the pessimistic forecast for the coming year will definitely hamper agricultural practices in the province.
In addition, Afghanistan has caused the Hamoun Wetlands to rather completely disappear by almost blocking the water right of Iran from the shared river of Hirmand.
Considering the tough conditions, there is no promising point in the issue. The drought-stricken province is in urgent need of a comprehensive and tactful strategy to handle the worsening water problem.
