President Ebrahim Raeisi inaugurated a long-awaited water supply project in the drought-stricken Khuzestan Province on Friday, director of the provincial water and electricity organization said.
“Completed after 10 years at an estimated cost of $150 million, the major water supply plan, dubbed Ghadir Water Supply Project, entailed laying 900 kilometers of pipelines, in addition to building four pumping stations and a desalination plant,” Abbas Sadrianfar was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
The pipeline will supply stable and quality water to over half of the 5-million population of the southwestern province through pipelines for the next 25 years.
“The Ghadir project is aimed at alleviating the water problem, curbing pollution of freshwater resources and reducing salt content in water networks supplying Abadan, Andimeshk, Dezful, Khorramshahr, Ahvaz, Shadegan, Shoush and Susangard, as well as rural areas,” he said.
“With a capacity of 24 cubic meters per second, the pipeline will transfer clean water from Dez River to 52% of Khuzestan’s population, including 26 small towns and 1,300 rural districts.”
Located in Khuzestan Province, Dez River is a tributary of Karun River, which is 400 km long.
According to Sadrianfar, the venture that was expected to take three years was launched in 11 months, as water shortage in the dry region has reached a critical point.
“Now that the project is complete, we hope to see an improvement in the quality of water in the cities of Abadan and Khorramshahr, because Dez Dam water is of high quality,” he added.
The major project featured storage tanks, pipelines and treatment plants.
A desalination plant was launched in Abadan in February to help address the pressing water problems of the southwestern oil city.
The unit, with a capacity of 3,000 cubic meters of potable water per day, helps meet water demand in Chavibdeh, a city in Shalahi rural district in Abadan County.
This is while Persian Gulf states’ demand for desalinated water has increased by 9-11% in recent years, according to Frost & Sullivan, a business consulting firm involved in market research and analysis.
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE, Qatar and Bahrain meet a large part of their need for drinking water from the strategic Persian Gulf waterway.
Two decades of drought has had dire consequences on Iran’s water resources.
To tackle the worsening water crisis, desalination is becoming a viable option in most countries to produce water from the sea. In the coastal regions where saltwater is in abundance, large and semi-large desalination plants are preferable.
Rural Districts
Another pipeline project is also underway to supply water from Karun River to the rural districts of Ahvaz.
Sadrianfar said as soon as the plan is completed, the pipeline’s current capacity of 17,000 cubic meters of potable water [per day] will double and provide people in the region with long-term access to sustainable water.
The first phase of the initiative became operational in 2020 and a 100-kilometer pipeline carries potable water (per day) from Sheyban water treatment facilities in central Bavi County to 30 rural areas in Gheyzaniyeh, including Sofeyreh.
Before the pipeline, 16,000 people suffered from chronic water shortages for three years, as less than 4,000 cubic meters of water were pumped to Gheyzaniyeh district every day.
Years of shortages have pushed locals over the edge and a group of angry residents demanded clean water and warned those in charge of the rapidly worsening disaster.
Gheyzaniyeh is the biggest of the three districts in Ahvaz and is crisscrossed by main roads from Ahvaz to Mahshahr, Ramshir and Ramhormoz. It is close to Karun River, one of the biggest in Iran and the only navigable waterway in the country.
For years, the area has been lacking drinking water. Local residents in Gheyzaniyeh say there are at least 300 oil wells in the region, but the people have been suffering from water shortage for years.
Despite the health hazards, an estimated 400,000 liters of water are supplied by tankers daily to residents.
Homes at the far end of Gheyzaniyeh have no running water and people spend several hours in long lines to get water from tankers.
According to provincial authorities, around 700 small towns and villages in the oil-rich region have difficulty getting water, especially in summer when people are forced to remain indoors as the mercury hovers around 55 degrees Celsius.
Social Responsibilities
Khuzestan is home to the largest oil and gas plants in Iran, along with steel companies.
However, Karun and Maroun oil and gas companies, the National Iranian Drilling Company, Maroun and Razi petrochemical companies and Khuzestan Steel Company have failed to fulfill their social responsibilities.
In addition to the severe water crisis, the southwestern province has to bear the brunt of dust storms that have increased in both frequency and intensity in recent years.
While a majority of dust and sand storms originate beyond Iran’s borders, such as Iraq, Syria and Saudi Arabia, domestic sources of the storms are contributing to the grave problems due to a variety of factors, most of which are manmade.
Local residents believe that Iran’s Department of Environment does nothing of substance, as it lacks the political will and financial ability.
Instead, they blame the Energy Ministry whose unending love for dam construction and water schemes has dried up rivers and wetlands in the arid province, turning them into barren land and contributing to dust storms.
