Masoud Pezeshkian, the president of Iran’s regime, warned about the water resource crisis, saying that if it doesn’t rain in December, water in Tehran will be rationed, and if the drought continues, Tehran will have to be evacuated.
During his trip to Kurdistan Province on Thursday, November 6, he added: “If after water rationing there is still no rain, then we will have no water at all, and Tehran must be emptied.”
As the water crisis continues across many provinces of Iran, the director-general of Tehran’s Water and Wastewater Company said that the capital’s water situation is at a “red” and alarming level.
The Karaj Dam’s Reservoir Can Only Supply Tehran’s Drinking Water for Two Weeks
According to official data from the Water Resources Management Company, from the beginning of the current water year (September 23) to October 25 — a period of 33 days — Iran received only 2.3 millimeters of rainfall, and 21 out of the country’s 31 provinces saw no rain at all.
With water levels in Tehran’s and Karaj’s dams dropping to their lowest in 60 years and wells in Mashhad drying up, water scarcity in Iran has reached one of its most critical stages. Despite serious criticism of the Iranian regime’s mismanagement of water resources, provincial officials speak of the need for rationing and conservation.
Mohsen Ardakani, CEO of the Tehran Water and Wastewater Company, announced on Thursday, November 6, that the capital’s surface water resources are currently in a “red and very fragile condition.”
Ardakani stressed that there has been no recorded rainfall in the new water year in Tehran, adding that this is the sixth consecutive drought for the capital, while the previous water year was the driest in the past century.
He added: “Last year at this same time, rainfall in Tehran was 20 millimeters, and the long-term average is 30 millimeters, but now it has dropped to zero.”
Behzad Parsa, CEO of Tehran’s Regional Water Company, announced on November 2 that currently only 14 million cubic meters of water remain behind the Karaj (Amir Kabir) Dam, which can supply Tehran’s drinking water for only two more weeks.
He stated that the inflow to Tehran’s dams has decreased by 43% compared to last year.
Ardakani also emphasized the need for water conservation and said that if Tehran residents could save an additional 10% on top of the 10% reduction already achieved since the start of the year, “we can overcome the current crisis.”
In recent months, as the water crisis has intensified, Iranian regime officials have repeatedly blamed the public and urged citizens to “conserve water,” warning of declining dam reserves.
The Karaj Dam is drying up
Mehdi Maghsoudi, head of Karaj’s Water Affairs Department, announced on Thursday that only 31 million cubic meters of water remain in the 180-million-cubic-meter Karaj Dam reservoir — 50 million cubic meters less than at the same time last year — and it may “run out in a few days.”
Maghsoudi said: “The inflow to the Karaj Dam is now two cubic meters per second, while six cubic meters of water per second are being drawn from it for drinking water in Karaj and Tehran.”
He emphasized: “At this rate, we will have water for about 15 more days. We hope that effective rainfall will occur in the highlands by then because, in reality, the dam’s inflow is less than its outflow, and we are essentially using up the remaining reserves.”
Possible water rationing in Mashhad
In Mashhad, too, the water shortage is critical.
Hassan Hosseini, Mashhad’s special governor, announced that a water rationing plan for this metropolis is under consideration and that if the current weather conditions continue, regional water rationing in Mashhad will begin in early autumn.
He noted that the emergency wells dug to provide water for Mashhad are drying up one after another and that measures such as nighttime water cuts are being considered to cope with the water crisis.
Hosseini said that to complete projects such as the water transfer pipeline from the Hezar Masjed Mountains to Mashhad, 50 trillion rials (equivalent to 5 trillion tomans) in funding is needed.
Hossein Esmaeilian, CEO of Mashhad’s Water and Wastewater Company, stated on August 31 that the city is under severe water stress and that water reserves are at a minimal level.
He added: “Since 2022, Mashhad’s water reserves have worsened day by day, and this year the situation has approached a crisis.”
On August 26, Mansour Sohrabi, an ecology and environmental expert, told Iran International that across the country, dams have been built in places where they should never have been constructed, pointing to the Iranian regime’s mismanagement of the water crisis.
