An assessment of Iran’s water resources from September 23, 2023, to March 16, 2024, indicates that 33 major dams in the country have less water than in 2022. The volume of reservoirs has decreased by more than 10% compared to the same period in the previous year.
In recent months, experts have repeatedly warned about drought in Iran and its consequences.
The ISNA news agency reported on March 21 that the volume of water in Iran’s reservoirs reached 23.18 billion cubic meters from the beginning of the current water year, September 2023, to mid-March 2024, indicating a 10% decrease compared to the previous year.
Alongside this decrease, an examination of the outflow from the country’s reservoirs during this period indicates a “seven percent increase.”
Further examination of other indicators in this regard shows that the reservoir storage level in Iran has reached 47%, and the inventory of 33 dams is lower than the previous year.
Earlier, the media had warned about the severe reduction in the water volume of 13 dams and the concerning situation of 40 other dams.
In mid-February 2024, Tasnim News Agency reported that due to reduced rainfall, the regional water company refrained from providing statistics on Tehran’s dams. On February 10, 87% of the capacity of Tehran’s five major dams was empty.
The media also reported a 31% decrease in rainfall in Tehran.
Tehran is experiencing its fourth consecutive year of drought, which, in the past 50 years, has always been followed by a year of rainfall scarcity.
In January 2024, IRNA reported a 40% decrease in rainfall since the beginning of the current water year compared to the long-term 55-year period, and a 21% increase in water outflow from the dams.
New assessments by ISNA from September 23, 2023, to March 16, 2024, indicate a 27% decrease in total precipitation compared to the long-term average for a similar period.
Ahad Vazifeh, the head of the regime’s National Climate Center and acting head of Iran’s drought crisis management, warned in January 2024 about Iran’s fourth year of drought, stating that water resources have decreased by 30% compared to the previous year, and rainfall has also decreased.
He stated that the rains in autumn and winter were not sufficient to compensate for Iran’s water scarcity: “Every rainfall only partially meets the needs of the year, and the shortages are not fully compensated because the effects of drought do not disappear, and nature retains them in its memory.”
On February 1, 2024, Firouz Qasemzadeh, a spokesman for the water industry, reported that 132 days into the water year, predictions of rainfall had not been met, and 2023, as the fourth consecutive dry year, was facing a serious reduction in rainfall.
The increase in demand for water and the impoverishment of water resources are remembered as the main reasons for the water shortage and drought in recent years in Iran.
Iran is experiencing its fourth year of drought, with the effects of the past three years still evident, and according to forecasts, this year’s summer will be difficult and tense in terms of water supply for citizens.
Iran’s regime, with its unprincipled and misguided policies, has led to the waste of a significant portion of the country’s water resources and the drying up of important Iranian lakes. Instead of investing in this sector, the Iranian regime spends the revenue from oil sales on terrorist purposes and financing its proxy groups in the Middle East.
