The official said: Due to the continued drought during the past 14 years and rising water consumption in various sectors, the country’s reservoirs are in critical state such that providing drinking water has become a big challenge in recent years.
The official from state-run National Water and Wastewater Engineering Company said that based on a study done by the company last year, it has been expected that 12 major cities in the country with total population of 23 millions face a water shortages.
“The shortages are becoming more evident as we are in hot summer months,” he said.
Concerning the state of water provision in major cities, the official stated that the cities of Isfahan and Kerman are in red state while Tehran is in yellow state.
The country of 76 million is facing water shortages. Over the past few months, 12 major cities including Tehran and Shiraz have threatened to implement water rationing should residents fail to cut their use.
A UN resident coordinator for Iran was quoted by Reuters on Sunday saying that: “Water scarcity poses the most severe human security challenge in Iran today”.
In January, state-run newspaper Shahrvand reported that 517 of more than 700 cities and towns in Iran were “on the verge of a water crisis” that could result in drinking water shortages, especially during the parched summer.
Mismanagements, excessive damming of rivers, bad irrigation practices, drought and climate change have all contributed to Iran’s water crisis which is now considered as a national security issue.