Tehran Water Reserves Down 40 Percent

Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 19



By Umid Niayesh - Trend:



The total volume of the water in Tehran's five reservoirs has decreased by 40 percent in comparison with last year, Iran's energy minister, Hamid Chitchian said.



He added that the administration limited water supply to the agriculture sector in some regions in Tehran to deal with the shortage, Iran's official IRIB news agency reported Aug. 19.



"However the current situation is unstable and the residents have no choice rather than decreasing the water consumption trend," the minister said.



Iranian media outlets "ed Mohammad Parvaresh, the managing director of Tehran Water and Wastewater Company as saying, Aug.18 that Tehran's reservoirs will run out of water in 30 days.



The official asked residents of the capital to decrease their water consumption by 20 percent to get through the crisis.



Parvaresh noted that high consumption and a lack of precipitation are leading to a complete loss of water in Tehran's reservoirs, in particular Lar and Latian.



Iran is located in an arid zone and the country has been repeatedly faced with drought in the past 40 years.



The drought of 1992-2002 caused a major blow to agriculture. There were "as imposed for fresh water in several cities including Tehran.



Hamidreza Janbaz, an Advisor to Iranian energy minister, said that currently 517 cities are struggling with water shortage across the country.



"At present, a special program is being worked out to solve the water shortage problem in the next three years," he added.



"A drought has been observed in the country for nearly 13 years," Janbaz said.



Earlier Chitchian said water shortage has turned into a serious problem for the country.