The ongoing drought in Iran, which is creating a critical water shortage in Tehran, highlights not only the environmental challenges facing the country but also the urgent need for sustainable water management. As climate change intensifies weather extremes, the situation underscores the importance of regional cooperation and innovative solutions to address water scarcity—issues far beyond the Iranian capital that resonate across many water-stressed areas worldwide.
The Iranian capital of Tehran faces an alarming water crisis, with its primary source of drinking water expected to run dry within two weeks, as reported by state media. The Amir Kabir Dam, vital for supplying the city’s approximately 10 million residents, currently holds merely 14 million cubic meters of water, which constitutes a mere eight percent of its total capacity, according to Behzad Parsa, the director of Tehran’s water company. He indicated that at the current levels, the dam’s supply is sufficient for only a fortnight.
This warning comes amid an unprecedented drought that has gripped Iran for decades, resulting in a staggering “100 percent drop in precipitation” in the Tehran region. Local authorities recently noted that the level of rainfall in the province is at its lowest in nearly a century. The Amir Kabir Dam held back 86 million cubic meters of water a year ago, emphasizing the extreme decline in water availability. Parsa has not disclosed the status of the other dams within the water supply system, raising concerns about the overall resilience of Tehran’s water infrastructure.
Tehran’s population consumes around three million cubic meters of water daily. To mitigate the crisis, authorities have implemented water supply cuts to several neighborhoods, while residents have frequently experienced outages lately. This summer, in response to escalating water shortages and extreme temperatures—exceeding 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in Tehran and surpassing 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) in surrounding areas—two public holidays were declared to prioritize water and energy conservation.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian recently remarked that the magnitude of the water crisis is of greater concern than what is being openly discussed. This issue is further complicated by water scarcity challenges throughout Iran, particularly in its arid southern provinces, where mismanagement, overexploitation of groundwater resources, and the ramifications of climate change have all contributed to the problem.
Compounding the situation, Iran’s neighbor Iraq is grappling with its driest year since 1993, with the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers experiencing a dramatic drop of up to 27 percent due to poor rainfall and upstream water restrictions. This has led to significant humanitarian challenges, particularly in southern Iraq, highlighting the urgent nature of regional water management initiatives as climate-related crises become increasingly commonplace in West Asia.
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