Azernews.Az

By Gunay Hasanova

The water crisis becomes one of the major challenges of Iran, thus requiring to mobilize all efforts to eliminate the causes of problem.

The crisis is serious and complicated enough, but could be resolved by coordinated work of all branches of the government and both private and public sectors, the officials warn.

Total precipitation volume in Iran has reached some 29.664 billion cubic meters during the current crop year (September 22-November 30) compared to 112.66 billion cubic meters in the same period of preceding year.

Iran has experienced 18 millimeters of precipitation from the beginning of the current crop year till November 30, which indicates a 53 percent decline compared to the long-term average precipitation (47 years), Iran’s energy ministry reported.

The country’s dams reportedly have been filled by only 50 percent so far due to low participation.

Iran’s dams can hold a capacity of 49.8 billion cubic meters.

Iran's total annual water consumption is approximately 93 billion cubic meters, out of which about 92 percent is used in agriculture (86 billion cubic meters), 6.6 percent in municipality (6.18 billion cubic meters), and 1.2 percent in industry (1.12 billion cubic meters), according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Iran has always suffered from a seriously inefficient agriculture, which heavily relies on irrigation and consumes most of the country’s limited water resources, mainly due to its oil-based economy and negligence towards the economic efficiency of the agricultural sector. While only 15 percent of the country’s area is cultivated, this sector is responsible for 92 percent of the water consumption in Iran

Up to 70 percent of water used in the agriculture sector is being wasted, Iranian officials say.

As a result of the bad use of water resources, many of lakes, wells and other sources of water have dried during the past decade.

During the past 15 years, the amount of rainfall has decreased and has reached the average amount of 244 millimeters, according to the Minister of Energy of Iran Hamid Chitchian.

According to the experts, Iran is currently experiencing the growth and underinvestment problems that the West experienced in the 20th century or even today. However, what makes the current problems in Iran different from similar problems in the West is the depth and extent of the secondary impacts of development. Rather than proactive management to prevent water problems, Iran’s reactive management has focused on curing the symptoms, whereas the causes of the problems are becoming worse over time.

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Gunay Hasanova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @gunhasanova

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