Decades of mismanagement compounded by prolonged drought have pushed Iran to the brink of what experts call water bankruptcy.
With reservoirs running on empty and rainfall at a record low, the authorities have begun rationing water supplies in the Iranian capital, Tehran, a city of some 10 million people.
President Masud Pezeshkian has warned the water crisis could lead to the evacuation of parts of Tehran and went as far as floating the possibility of moving the capital.
Kaveh Madani, director of the Canada-based United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment, and Health, said the warnings by the authorities didn’t go far enough.
“The level of their warnings is too low compared to the reality on the ground,” Madani, who previously served as deputy head of Iran’s Department of Environment, told RFE/RL’s Radio Farda.
“The government is being too cautious because it doesn’t want to stress the public and upset people even more,” he added.
Water bankruptcy is when consumption exceeds supply and the depletion of resources is irreversible. It is often driven by what experts say is misguided government policies intended to boost agriculture and development.
How Bad Is Iran’s Water Crisis?
Iran is currently in the grips of the worst drought in some 60 years.
“If it doesn’t rain, we’ll have to start rationing water in [November]. If the lack of rainfall continues past that, we simply won’t have water and will have to evacuate Tehran,” Pezeshkian said earlier this month, though other officials have sought to downplay the need to move the capital.
Since last week, water supplies have been cut off in the evenings in Tehran. The authorities have also called on people to curb consumption during the day. Water rationing has not yet been reported in other parts of Iran.
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Iran’s Devastating Drought Crisis Seen From Space
Satellite images of key lakes and reservoirs across Iran reveal the extent of the country’s crippling drought crisis. New photos show how water levels have dropped dramatically compared to images taken a year ago. Iran’s water crisis stems mainly from reduced rainfall and mismanagement of resources.
The five main reservoirs supplying water to Tehran are at historically low levels, currently holding just 11 percent of overall capacity.
In Mashhad, Iran’s second-largest city with 4 million residents, reservoirs have fallen below 3 percent capacity, with three of the four dams supplying the city now out of operation.
Nationwide, 19 major dams — accounting for 10 percent of Iran’s reservoirs — have run completely dry, and more than 20 dams are holding under 5 percent of their capacity.
What’s The Plan?
Iranian officials have not yet presented a concrete plan to tackle the emergency.
The authorities in Iran typically downplay crises to deflect blame and avoid spreading panic. But officials raising the possibility of evacuating Tehran has underscored the severity — and the urgency — of the situation.
Addressing the parliament earlier this week, Pezeshkian told his critics in the chamber that he will “give those who claim they can resolve the water problem full authority” to tackle the water shortage.
Compounding matters, Madani said, is the public’s lack of trust in the authorities.
“Society is not aware of how terrible the situation is, and the government is scared of asking people to reduce consumption,” he said.
Water shortages have repeatedly sparked protests across Iran in recent years, most notably in Khuzestan Province, where demonstrations in July 2021 were met with a deadly crackdown.
People purchase water storage tanks amid the drought crisis in Tehran on November 10.
Short-term fixes exist, but experts say fundamental reforms and tough policy decisions are needed to avert a catastrophe.
Azam Bahrami, a sustainable development expert based in Italy, told Radio Farda there needs to be planning and an assessment on where water is wasted to fix the problem in the long term.
“We’ve wasted a lot of water trying to become self-sufficient in the production of many things,” she said.
Iran reportedly produces 85 percent of its food needs domestically — a self-sufficiency strategy driven by decades of international sanctions and aimed at reducing dependence on global grain markets.
But experts have been warning for years that Iran, which is largely arid, does not have the water resources to sustain it.
