Tehran to restrict public water supply as Iran battles drought

Capital's 10 million residents brace for shortages

Iranians picnic inside an almost-dry riverbed in the Fasham area north of Tehran, in August. EPA

Iran was making plans on Saturday to cut off water supplies periodically to Tehran's 10-million-strong population as it battles its worst drought in many decades.

Rainfall in the capital this year is at the lowest level recorded in a century, officials say, and half of Iran's provinces have not seen a drop fall in months.

Now, to save water, the government is planning water cuts in Tehran and several local news outlets have already reported pipes running dry overnight in some areas, AFP reported.

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“This will help avoid waste even though it may cause inconvenience,” Iran's Energy Minister Abbas Ali Abadi said on state television.

In a speech broadcast on Friday, Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian warned that Tehran might have to be evacuated if no rain falls before the end of the year.

People drink water from a public fountain in Tehran. Pipes have already been running dry overnight in some areas of the city, reports say. AFP

He gave no details about how such a vast operation would be conducted.

Tehran, nestled in the southern slopes of the Alborz mountains, has hot dry summers usually relieved by autumn rains and winter snowfall.

It is by far the country's largest city and residents use three million cubic metres of water per day, according to local media.

The main Amir Kabir dam on the Karaj river, one of five reservoirs serving the capital, is running dry and holds only 14 million cubic metres, the official news agency IRNA quoted Behzad Parsa, director general of the Tehran water company, as saying.

During the same period last year, the reservoir held 86 million cubic metres, he added, but now it only has enough to maintain supplies to the Tehran region for less than two weeks.

On Saturday, state television broadcast images of several dams, serving the central city of Isfahan and Tabriz in the north-west, carrying significantly lower water levels compared to previous years.

Hassan Hosseini, the governor of Iran's second-largest city Mashhad, told IRNA on Thursday that night-time water cuts were being considered to address the water shortage.

And over the summer on July and August, two public holidays were declared in Tehran to save water and energy, at a time when power cuts were almost daily during the intense heatwave.