Statistics show that since the beginning of the current water year (Sept. 2021) until May 28, the total volume of water stored in dams across Iran has reached 27.6 billion cubic meters, which indicate a 6% fall compared with the same period of last year.
The decline in precipitation is the main factor behind the lower water level in dams. In fact, most dams across the country are in critical conditions.
Although the water level in most reservoirs has decreased, a small number of dams from a total of about 200 dams has experienced a rise in water volume, IRNA reported.
Shamil and Nian Dam in the southern Hormozgan Province tops the list.
The volume of water in the dam has increased by 204% year-on-year to reach 60 million cubic meters, meaning that 61% of its capacity are filled, which is a good figure compared with other reservoirs.
In addition, Esteqlal Dam in Hormozgan increased by 98% to reach 202 million cubic meters, which is about 85% of its capacity.
There are 13 dams in Lake Urmia’s catchment area, which have had a 15% increase in water volume in the past eight months YOY.
The dams in northwestern regions altogether have over 1.24 bcm of water, meaning that around 74% of their total capacity are full.
The amount of water in Karoun and Dez dams in Khuzestan Province has risen by 4% and 33% this year, respectively, which amount to 75% and 79% of their total capacities.
Located in southwest Iran, Karoun Dam now has 9.22 billion cubic meters of water and 2.95 bcm of water are stored in Dez Dam.
Bijar Dam in the namesake city in Gilan Province is also one of the dams that has seen a rise in its reservoir.
There is currently 16% more water in the dam YOY and 91% of its capacity are filled.
Other dams across Iran have experienced a decline in their water level over the past few months.
Water Tension
Close to 200 urban and rural areas experienced water deficits last summer, mainly due to poor rainfall.
The Energy Ministry’s data show that close to 30 million people are struggling with varying degrees of water scarcity and related challenges that have only deteriorated.
Iran is experiencing unprecedented climate-related problems such as desiccation of lakes and rivers, dust storms, high temperatures, droughts and floods.
Recent studies have found that compared to 1980–2004, Iran is likely to experience extended periods of extreme temperatures in the southern parts of the country, extended periods of dry as well as wet spells, and higher frequencies of floods.
In Iran, a country dominated by an arid and semi-arid climate, significant climate anomalies have been observed over the last decade.
In combination with management-related issues, Iran has faced many disasters from the shrinking of a significant number of lakes and rivers, to land subsidence, floods and droughts.
Iran also has extremely critical conditions in groundwater resources because of overexploitation and the country ranks among the top groundwater miners in the world.
