Largest water project of Iran, Azerbaijan to come on stream

The chief executive of Iran’s East Azerbaijan Regional Water Company said the Qiz Qalasi Dam, the largest joint water project between Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan, will become operational in the coming days.

News ID: ۸۴۰۷۳۶

07 May 2024

EghtesadOnline: The construction operation of the dam, which is the most important project in the northwest of the country, has been completed and it will be inaugurated in the coming days in the presence of Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi and his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev, Yousef Ghaffarzadeh stated.

This project, which includes the development of the Khoda Afarin reservoir dam 196km downstream of the Aras River with a capacity of 1.6 billion cubic meters has been fully designed and implemented by expert Iranian engineers, he emphasized.

In addition to supplying water to the downstream land area and booming agriculture, the operation of this giant water project will lead to the economic development of the region, an increase in the quality of agricultural products, and the development of tourism in this region, Ghaffarzadeh said.

He described it as one of the largest pressurized irrigation projects in the region and said its implementation will lead to the optimal use of water and soil resources, the transformation of the traditional agricultural methods to modern methods, and generation of employment opportunities for 40,000 job-seeking people.

Located 220km northeast of Tabriz, the Qiz Qalasi Dam has been constructed on the Aras River on the joint borders between Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan. / Mehr