Tehran Faces Potential Mass Evacuation as Water crisis Deepens
Tehran, the capital of Iran, is bracing for a potential evacuation as water supplies dwindle to critically low levels. The Karaj Dam, a key source providing 25% of the city’s drinking water to its 15 million residents, currently holds only 8% of its capacity, mirroring a dire situation across other reservoirs. This has prompted Iranian officials to contemplate drastic measures, including the possibility of mass relocation.
Iran has been grappling with a six-year drought,exacerbated by consistently low rainfall and increasingly critical reservoir levels in recent months. While water rationing is already in effect in some areas, experts warn the situation is rapidly deteriorating.
“Day zero, as we call it in the water sector, is near. It’s a day that the taps would run dry,” stated Professor Kaveh Madani, Director of the United Nations University Institute for Water, to CBC.
President Masoud Pezeshkian recently cautioned that if Tehran doesn’t receive rainfall by the end of November, rationing will escalate, potentially leading to evacuation. The city’s vulnerability stems from decades of unsustainable practices, including water-intensive agricultural irrigation, subsidized water usage, and notable population migration to urban centers, which has strained existing resources.
Energy Minister Ali Abadi has also pointed to contributing factors such as significant water leakage from Tehran’s aging, 100-year-old water infrastructure and damage sustained during the 12-day conflict with Israel in June.
Tehran is not alone in facing such a crisis; cities like Mexico City, Sao Paulo, and Cape Town have previously confronted similar “Day Zero” scenarios. Though, the issue in Iran is long-standing, with President Pezeshkian raising concerns about impending water shortages as early as 2011.
“These things were not created overnight,” Professor Madani explained to Sky News. ”They’re the product of decades of bad management, lack of foresight, overreliance and false confidence in how much infrastructure and engineering projects can do in a country that is relatively water short.”
