Golestan Water and Wastewater Company has allocated $17 million for water supply to 432 villages in the northeastern province, managing director of the company said.
“So far, 170 kilometers of water transmission lines have been laid and out of a total of 30 wells planned to be drilled, work on 10 wells have been completed,” Iraj Heydarian was also quoted as saying by the Energy Ministry’s news portal Paven.
Referring to the construction of 74 water storage tanks as part of the project, the official said, “Currently, 22 storage tanks are being built.”
According to the head of the Golestan Regional Water Company’s Maintenance Office, about 13.7 million cubic meters of water are currently stored in Golestan’s dams, indicating that only 5.6% of their total capacity are filled.
“This is while during the same time of last year, the water stored in the dams was more than 14% of the dam’s capacity,” Sha’ban Rasouli added.
The official noted that 14 reservoir dams in the province are estimated to hold 245 million cubic meters of water.
“We hope that with an improvement in rainfall, more water will be stored in the dams of the province,” he said.
More water in the dams will ensure sustainable water supply to different sectors, including households and farms, as well as development of water tourism, which remains untapped in the northern province.
In addition to the rise in the income of people living in villages with dams, the development of water tourism will diversify the tourism infrastructure of the province and attract tourists.
Because of its dams, Golestan has a significant potential for hydro-tourism, which can promote economic prosperity and people’s living standards.
Hydro-tourism or water tourism involves traveling to places specifically to take part in water-based activities, or visit sightseeing spots located close to water bodies such as lakes, rivers, dams and wetlands.
