Water Levels Falling in Khuzestan Dams

EghtesadOnline: Precipitation in Khuzestan catchment area has been reported at 30 millimeters since the beginning of the current water year on September 23, head of the Water Resources Planning Department in Khuzestan said.

News ID: ۷۴۸۹۶۸

16 November 2019

“This is a decline of 67% compared to last year’s corresponding period,” Daryoush Baharlouee was quoted as saying by the Energy Ministry’s news portal Monday.

The amount of water estimated to have flown into dams in the oil region in the period is 1.3 billion cubic meters. Nonetheless, water flowing out of dams was 3.7 bcm, another warning sign that water levels are gradually plummeting.

There are more than 10 dams in the southern province that can hold close to 20 bcm of water when full, according to Financial Tribune.

“At present dams namely Karoun, Dez, Maroun and Karkheh are half full,” the senior water official said.

According to Iran climatology center, precipitation will decline in this winter and judicious consumption should be a priority.

There was significant improvement in rainfall in March and April when precipitation in most provinces exceeded the average in 50 years. However, that now seems to be a rare exception as the weatherman has said that rainfall will be of the descending order in this water year.

178 Dams

According to the Energy Ministry, of the total 178 dams in the country 83 are large. Dams in their entirety can hold a maximum of 50 bcm of water. Dams were 82% full in May but are now at 50%.

Unlike in Khuzestan, dams supplying water to Tehran have more water compared to previous years. However, as capacity of surface water pipelines is limited due to seepage and ageing infrastructure, Tehranis are regularly requested to be very cautious about water use, managing director of Tehran Regional Water Company Hassan Razavi said.

“Tehran dams now have almost 239 million cubic meters more water than last year,” Razavi said.

Tehran dams (Karaj, Latyan, Taleqan, Lar and Mamlou) together can hold 2 billion cubic meters of water. These massive structures now hold 817 mcm -- up 40% compared to last year’s 579 mcm.

According to water experts, about 35% of water is lost to seepage and rust -- a loss the government in Tehran and its army of urban planners cannot afford when they talk about shortages in the mass media and special congresses on a regular basis.

Tehran’s water network is more than 50 years old.The amount of potable water used annually in Tehran Province alone exceeds 1.4 billion cubic meters, accounting for almost 20% of the total potable water consumption in the country of 82 million people.