As the calendar approaches mid-December, the rain has finally fallen on the Iranian capital of Tehran. However this may not be enough to prevent an evacuation amid the fear that the water will run out in a metropolitan area of about 15 million people.
What is going on?
Before the rain fell on December 10, President Masoud Pezeshkian warned that Tehran’s residents may “have to evacuate” as Iran experiences its sixth consecutive year of drought.
Kaveh Madani, director of the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health, called the intensity of the drought “unprecedented in modern times”, as reported by CNN.
Some neighborhoods lost water service for hours at a time, with the main water reservoir Latyan Dam less than 10% full, according to the Associated Press.
Why is Iran’s water crisis important?
The reasons behind Iran’s water crisis are multiple.
As CNN and AP detailed, years of over-extraction — policies enacted after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, during which then-Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini promised free water for all — and the cultivation of water-intensive crops all played significant roles. More than 90% of Iran’s water goes to agriculture.
To some extent, sanctions tied to the regime’s nuclear and missile programs, human rights abuses, and support for terrorism also played a role, as Iranian-American and senior fellow at the Washington Institute Holly Dagres noted in a piece detailing how many Iranians see the water crisis as stemming from the regime’s “systemic mismanagement and corruption.”
A changing climate fueled by pollution from coal, oil and gas is also influencing weather patterns in the region. While “all extreme events have multiple causes,” according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, warmer global temperatures are outpacing them, making them more powerful and destructive.
What is being done about Iran’s water crisis?
While rain fell on Tehran after Pezeshkian’s warning in November, Iran Meteorological Organization office official Ahad Vazifeh said he expects a shortage “even if the winter and spring rains are normal,” according to the AP.
The government tried to “increase the clouds” to increase the rain. While cloud seeding has been blamed for flooding in several regions, scientists have routinely dismissed that theory, and a recent study indicates that cloud seeding may have only a limited effect on rainfall.
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