Since the beginning of the current water year (Sept. 23), only 3 millimeters of rainfall have been registered across Iran, which shows a 44% decrease compared with the same period of last year, the head of Data and Information Department at Iran Water Resources Management Company said.
“This is the third year in a row that the fall season has started with low precipitation and limited rainfall in the northern regions of the country,” Mehr News Agency also quoted Firouz Qasemzadeh as saying.
Speaking about the water inflow in dams, the official said about 870 million cubic meters of water have entered the dam reservoirs in different regions since Sept. 23, indicating a 12% decline in comparison with the same period of a year ago.
“Currently, only 37% of the dams are full and the country’s water conditions are not favorable. The problem is not in the drinking sector, but in the supply of agricultural water in provinces such as Isfahan, Khuzestan, Ilam and those in the central plateau,” he said.
Referring to the conditions of the capital, Qasemzadeh noted that 40% of Tehran's drinking water are supplied by surface resources and Tehran’s dams are currently only 19% full.
About 420 million cubic meters of water are stored in the five dams supplying water to Tehran, which is about one-fifth of their total capacity of 2 billion cubic meters.
Despite the poor situation of dams, Tehran’s water consumption is high and more than 3 billion liters of water are consumed per day in the metropolis.
The high volume of water consumption in Tehran was expected to decrease with the beginning of the fall, however, this has not happened.
The high level of consumption is not different from the amount consumed during the peak days of summer, and even surpasses on some days.
The unsustainable consumption pattern has led the water authority in the capital to cut off the water of 2,800 heavy consumers for several hours a day as a punitive measure for them to reduce their consumption.
The measure has proved to be effective, as the number of subscribers with excessive consumption has decreased from 6% to 5%.
The maximum household consumption level in the province is 28,000 liters per month and those who exceed the limit face supply cuts.
Tehran Province accounts for 25% of Iran’s total water consumption, which is around 100 billion cubic meters. This is while Tehran Province’s population comprises 17.5% of the country’s total population.