As mid-December approaches, it finally begins to rain in Tehran, the capital of Iran. However, this may not be enough to prevent people from evacuating, amid concerns that the metropolitan area of about 15 million people will run out of water.
What happened?
Before the December 10 rains, President Masoud Pezeshkian warned that residents of Tehran may “have to evacuate” as Iran suffers from a sixth consecutive year of drought.
Kaveh Madani, director of the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health, called the severity of the drought “unprecedented in modern times,” CNN reported.
According to the Associated Press, some communities have lost water services for several hours, and the main reservoir, Latian Dam, is less than 10% full.
Why does Iran’s water crisis matter?
The reasons behind Iran’s water crisis are multifaceted.
As CNN and the AP detail, years of over-exploitation (a policy instituted after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, when then-Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini promised free water for all) and the cultivation of water-intensive crops both played a role. More than 90% of Iran’s water is used for agriculture.
To some extent, sanctions related to the regime’s nuclear and missile programs, human rights abuses, and support for terrorism also play a role, as Holly Dagres, an Iranian American and senior fellow at the Washington Institute, noted in an article detailing the water crisis that many Iranians believe stems from the regime’s “systemic mismanagement and corruption.”
Climate change caused by coal, oil and gas pollution is also affecting weather patterns in the region. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says that while “all extreme events have multiple causes,” rising global temperatures are exacerbating these events, making them more powerful and destructive.
What’s being done about Iran’s water crisis?
Rains fell in Tehran after Pezeshkian warned in November, but Ahad Vazifeh, an official at the Iranian Meteorological Organization’s office, said he expected a rainfall shortage “even if winter and spring rains are normal,” according to the Associated Press.
The government is trying to increase rainfall through “cloud seeding”. While cloud seeding has been blamed for flooding in several areas, scientists have often dismissed the theory, and a recent study suggests that cloud seeding may have a limited impact on rainfall.
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