The Energy Ministry has completed close to 560 water and wastewater projects across the nation over the last 12 months, due to which the number of urban and rural areas faced with water tension has decreased by at least 15% to reach 260 cities and towns.
Energy Minister Ali Akbar Mehrabian made the statement in the inaugural ceremony of a water transfer project in Qazvin Province on Saturday, the Energy Ministry’s news portal reported.
“Completed at an estimated cost of $20 million, a 20-km pipeline transfers water from Taleghan Dam, 135 kilometers northwest of Tehran, to a treatment plant in Abyek County in Qazvin Province to supply villagers with potable water,” he said.
“Abyek water treatment facility has the capacity to process 200 liters of water per second and will provide the city and its neighboring rural areas with piped water.”
Pointing to ongoing water supply projects to 14 cities and 194 villages of the province from Taleqan Dam, the minister said, “The project costs $115 million. Negotiations have been held with the private sector, banks and investors, and soon the required funds will be allocated to the project.”
According to the minister, regions to the south of Abyek and Bouin-Zahra are increasingly turning into deserts, “but measures to combat the process are underway”.
Planting vegetation is a common method for curbing desertification, although Qazvin’s struggle with water shortage makes it difficult to accomplish.
Due to the excessive exploitation of groundwater resources and declining precipitation, the plain has subsided by 20 cubic meters.
Balakhanlou Dam
About $7 million have been invested on the construction of Balakhanlou Dam in Buin-Zahra City, Qazvin Province, and it is expected to be completed by 2023, Mehrabian said.
“The dam will have a capacity of 38.5 million cubic meters and is built on the Haji Arab River to supply drinking water to five cities and 30 villages in the province,” he added.
The project, which has registered about 70% progress, will also irrigate the plains to prevent the reduction in the level of groundwater and 4,200 hectares of farmlands, decrease groundwater extraction and control seasonal floods in Haji Arab River.
“The average rainfall in Qazvin Province is 316 mm, but since the beginning of the current water year [started September 2021], the amount of precipitation has been about 220 mm, which indicate a 12% decline in rainfall compared to normal conditions in Qazvin,” he said.
The amount of annual water consumption in the province is 2 billion cubic meters, of which 500 million cubic meters are supplied from surface water resources and 1.5 billion cubic meters from groundwater resources.
Mehrabian noted that about 88% of the water in the province are consumed in the agriculture sector, 8% in the household sector and 4% in industries and services.
Some industries in the province are currently using treated wastewater, as close to 58,000 cubic meters of effluents are reclaimed in the province annually.
“There are 5,800 authorized wells in the province. The installation of smart meters has helped improve the level of groundwater aquifers and prevent their decline by controlling extraction from the wells and creating balance in groundwater resources. Sealing illegal wells has been another measure to prevent over-extraction,” the minister said.
Other Water Projects
The minister noted that other water projects are underway, one of which is to transfer water from Azad Dam in Kurdestan Province to the Sanandaj Water Treatment Plant in the provincial capital that has registered 60% progress and is expected to be completed by the end of September.
“So far, 20 km of the 27-km-long transmission line have been laid,” he added.
About $10 million have been spent on the project and it is estimated to cost another $10 million to complete. The project will supply drinking water to Sanandaj with a population of about 400,000.
With a capacity of 300 mcm, Azad Dam is built on the Gura River 75 km from Sanandaj-Marivan Road. Water from the dam will also be supplied to the Qorveh and Dehgolan plains and used to generate electricity at the 10-megawatt hydroelectric power plant.
One 87-km canal connecting the dam to Qorveh and Dehgolan towns will supply water for farming in the two towns. Water tables in the region have plunged by over 18 meters due to the excessive use by farmers.
According to Mohammad Zarouri, managing director of Hamedan Province Regional Water Company, the project to transfer water from Talvar Dam in Kurdestan Province to regions in Hamedan is in the final stage and is expected to be completed before the end of summer.
“It will help meet potable water needs of the western region of Hamedan.”
Worsening drought and declining rainfall over the years have reduced the province's water resources and created problems in supplying drinking water in 12 cities and 160 villages.
