East Tehran Water To ‘Run Out In Days’, As Dry Summer Looms

Tehran is set for severe drinking water supply shortages in the coming summer due to low precipitation and evaporation from dams.

Mohsen Mousavi Khansari, board member of NGO aimed at raising awareness of Iran’s water and soil issues, made the projection in an interview with Tasnim news agency Wednesday.

Khansari said that the five dams around Tehran, the main sources of drinking water for the metropolitan region, currently have 300 million cubic meters (m3) of water, which is not enough to avert a water shortage in the summer.

Latyan and Lar dams, which supply water to the eastern parts of Tehran province, have a total 20 million m3 of water that will run out in coming days, he said. Water in Amirkabir Dam, in the west of Tehran, is down two thirds from a year ago to 30 million m3, “which is deeply worrying,” Khansari told Tasnim.

“If we add Mamlu and Taleqan Dams to the other dams, there will be a total of 300 million cubic meters of water, and if we consider the rate of evaporation and decrease in precipitation, we will definitely have many problems in the summer to supply drinking water to Tehran,” Khansari concluded.