Power Ministry Advisor: Rainfall and Dam Water Inflows Have Sharply Declined
An Iranian Energy Ministry official announced that water inflow to dams through the end of Esfand this year has decreased by 37 percent compared to the previous year.
Mohammad Taghi Toukali, advisor to the Energy Minister, stated this to ISNA news agency on Sunday, Esfand 6, adding that rainfall in the 2017-2018 water year has so far declined by 55 percent compared to last year. Noting that most dams are in unfavorable condition, which causes problems in water supply, he said: “We have reached a point in water issues where we cannot merely define the challenge; rather, we must now implement practical changes and manage water consumption. People do not follow water consumption patterns and we must prevent water-intensive crops and adopt reformed consumption patterns.”
The severe decrease in rainfall and water inflow to dams compared to last year comes at a time when Iran has also faced drought and reduced rainfall in previous years.
Nevertheless, many experts do not consider drought as the only problem in Iran’s water crisis; rather, they strongly criticize mismanagement and incorrect water resource management policies.
In recent months, multiple reports have been published regarding land subsidence and the creation of massive sinkholes in plains across different regions of Iran, attributed to the depletion of underground water aquifers.
Experts cited uncontrolled, unmonitored, and sometimes unauthorized extraction from underground aquifers for agricultural and industrial uses as one of the reasons for the disappearance of these water tables.
On the other hand, reckless and unprofessional dam construction, which has caused ecological changes and the drying of wetlands, has also been described as one of Iran’s incorrect water management policies.
Source: Voice of America
