The project to transfer water from Kouchari Dam in the central Isfahan Province to Saveh County in Markazi Province is expected to be completed within two years, the representative of Saveh and Zarandieh counties in the parliament said.
“So far, 35 km of transmission lines have been put in place and the installation of another 95 km will be completed with the help of the Energy Ministry,” Mohammad Sabzi was also quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency.
When launched, the water supply project from Kouchari Dam to Saveh and villages along the way will transfer 440 liters of water per second to 300,000 people.
The project requires about $40 million and will transfer 14 million cubic meters of water per year, when completed.
With a capacity to hold 207 million cubic meters of water, Kouchari Dam was constructed in 2016. Located 8t kilometers southwest of Golpayegan County, it supplies water to several cities in the provinces of Isfahan, Qom and Markazi, including Delijan, Saveh, Qom, Khansar, Khomein, Golpayegan, Mahallat and Salafchegan.
Water to Saveh is currently supplied by the Al-Ghadir Dam and 29 wells, the quality of which is not suitable for drinking.
Rapidly declining water resources has compelled the government to increase the number of plains from which water withdrawal is banned from 69 in 1968 to 405 now. There 25 proscribed plains in Markazi Province.
Of the total 3 billion cubic meters of renewable water in the province, 91% are used for farming, 5% for drinking and 4% by industries.
Surface water comprises 700 million cubic meters of renewable water and 2.3 bcm are extracted from groundwater resources.
Reducing water consumption in the agro sector and increasing efficiency using drip irrigation are other measures taken by the provincial water managers.
Drip irrigation is one of the efficient systems used across the world. Instead of wetting the whole field, water is applied only to the plant root. The primary goal of drip irrigation is to supply water when plants need it most and at rates needed for proper plant growth.
