“520 cities in Iran are facing the crisis of drinking water shortage,” Esmaeil Najjar, who is also the head of Crisis Management Organization, said.
“Over the past two decades, the scourge of drought has struck Iran,” he said.
Iran’s Energy Ministry – which is in charge of regulating the water sector – announced recently that about 60 percent of the reservoirs of major dams are already empty. The ministry further said there has been a decrease of 16 percent in inflow of water into dam reservoirs from the start of autumn.
Experts blame the water shortage on bad administration and believe that a proper management of water supplies is what Iran needs to end its water crisis. For example, an efficient mechanism is required to reduce consumption of water resources in agricultural sector – which stands at about 90 percent of total water supplies – and instead allocate a larger share to residential and even industrial sectors.
“The country’s most important lakes and rivers are drying up at a frightening rate as climate change, poor infrastructure, shortsighted policies and a skyrocketing population sends the country into crisis,” he wrote.