The head of Iran’s Water Industry Federation emphasized that Tehran’s water situation is worsening exponentially, warning that the capital’s water condition is “more concerning” than Iranian regime president Masoud Pezeshkian’s recent remarks about the need to evacuate Tehran and “more terrifying” than official statistics indicate.
Reza Haji Karim, in an interview with the state-run Didban Iran website published on Saturday, November 8, said: “The reality is that Tehran’s water situation is as bad and even more alarming than what the president warned about.”
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The head of the Water Industry Federation stressed: “This warning has come very late.”
On November 6, Masoud Pezeshkian warned that if it does not rain by late November, water in Tehran will be rationed, and if the drought continues, the city must be evacuated.
Amid the ongoing water crisis across many provinces in Iran, Mohsen Ardakani, the director-general of Tehran’s Water and Wastewater Company, described the capital’s water status as “critical and concerning.”
The head of the Water Industry Federation, referring to the “severe depletion of Tehran’s groundwater reservoirs,” added: “Currently, 62% of Tehran’s water supply comes from underground sources and 38% from surface water, which is almost exhausted or nearing depletion.”
Haji Karim also questioned the statistics on Tehran’s dam reserves, saying: “The figure that states only 5% of the water reserves in the dams supplying Tehran remains is not very accurate — the reality is somewhat more terrifying than the official numbers.”
While some Iranian media outlets have reported unofficial water rationing in Tehran, the head of the Water Industry Federation said: “This should have started much earlier. We had repeatedly requested in meetings with national water officials that water rationing in Tehran begin sooner, though this measure comes with its own challenges.”
He added that by rationing, he meant that “water, like electricity, should be cut off at specific times of the day, district by district.”
The solutions are not feasible in the short term
Currently, various solutions are being discussed to tackle the water crisis, such as water recycling systems, changing consumption patterns, using water-saving devices, public education, and reducing agricultural water use.
The head of the Water Industry Federation stressed: “These measures cannot be implemented in the short term, but some could show results within a few months.”
He explained: “For example, in densely populated areas, wastewater can be recycled and reused for various purposes such as green spaces, cooling towers, or toilet flushing. In the medium term, revising agricultural policies can help reduce water consumption in that sector.”
Haji Karim continued: “The ultimate solution is to prevent 30 million cubic meters of Tehran’s water from being used for construction or non-essential purposes. Drinking water should not be used for toilet flushing, and the province of Tehran should not consume 1.8 billion cubic meters of water for agriculture.”
The water transfer policy has failed
In recent months, Iran’s regime announced plans to transfer water from other regions to Tehran, but the head of the Water Industry Federation emphasized: “In principle, water transfer policies have failed.”
He added: “Unfortunately, some officials believe this project could save Tehran, but even Taleghan itself depends on rainfall. Naturally, when there’s no rain in Taleghan, there’s no water to fill the dam. The Taleghan Dam is now facing complete dryness.”
Criticism over Tehran’s decaying water infrastructure
Pezeshkian’s comments about water rationing in Tehran if it doesn’t rain in November and the possible evacuation of the capital have sparked criticism from media outlets, including those aligned with the regime’s opposition factions.
In the latest criticism, Hamed Pak-Tinat, founder of the Association of Economic Activists, wrote in an Instagram post criticizing Pezeshkian’s remarks: “Instead of holding useless meetings with the Meteorological Organization and relying on rain, find $200 million—maybe from the budget of one of those meaningless cultural centers—and spend it on repairing Tehran’s decaying water pipes.”
In August of last year, Ali Beytollahi, head of the earthquake department at the Road, Housing, and Urban Development Research Center, said: “About 40% of the country’s drinking water network is very old and practically worn out.”
He added: “Thirty percent of major ground sinkholes have originated from ruptured water pipes and powerful water leaks.”
According to a report by the Ministry of Energy published last year, the volume of leaked and unaccounted-for water nationwide amounts to about 1.9 billion cubic meters annually, equivalent to the yearly water consumption of about 26 million urban residents.
In Tehran alone, water losses from transmission network leaks are estimated at about 130 million cubic meters, roughly twice the volume of Lake Chitgar.
Over the past decades, Iran’s regime’s water management system has neglected investment in infrastructure, despite repeated expert warnings, focusing instead on dam construction and deep well drilling while reducing the water shortage issue merely to a lack of rainfall.
Meanwhile, regime officials, following superstitious and ideological approaches, have absurdly blamed droughts and water crises on women’s non-compliance with the mandatory hijab.
