While officials of the Iranian regime have warned about the possibility of water rationing in Tehran next summer, Issa Bozorgzadeh, the spokesperson for the regime’s water industry, stated in an interview with the state-run Mehr news agency that next year will also be a year of drought. According to this official, even if the conditions in the coming months are normal, the water year will still be classified as a drought year.
Bozorgzadeh explained that even if rainfall increases, the water year—especially in Tehran Province—will still face severe water stress.
On Tuesday, March 11, Ahad Vazifeh, the head of the National Center for Climate and Drought Crisis Management at the regime’s Meteorological Organization, stated that water shortages in the summer are a serious threat and that there is a possibility of water rationing in Tehran next summer.
Now, Bozorgzadeh says that the situation of Tehran’s dams is dire: “In Tehran, we have a 25% decrease compared to last year and about a 46% decrease in the long term. Among Tehran’s dams, Amir Kabir and Latian dams are in worse condition. Overall, the four dams in Tehran—Lar, Latian, Mamloo, and Amir Kabir in Karaj—have less than 60 million cubic meters of inflow; meaning their reservoir volume is less than 60 million cubic meters, and part of that consists of dead storage and sediment, which cannot be used.”
According to him, although the condition of the Taleqan Dam is better, there are structural limitations in water transfer, and it is not possible to transfer its water to Tehran: “Surface water resources are in trouble, and if we do not manage consumption and the rainfall does not recover, in the coming months, we may lose some of Tehran’s dams as water sources.”
In recent months, many citizens have reported experiencing water cuts in addition to power outages.
