December 29, 2017
The Ministry of Energy has canceled 50 planned dams, due to the lack of rainfall to fill the reservoirs behind dams.
According to Radio Farda, the head of Iran’s meteorological organization has reported that rainfall has dropped to just 40 percent of what is normal in 17 provinces in the last two months. Even drier conditions are threatening five provinces: Qom, South Khorasan, Esfahan, Markazi and Yazd.
Scientists say climate change has already led to a 10 percent drop in rainfall nationally over the last 20 years, and a 1.5-degree-centigrade increase in average temperatures.
According to Radio Farda, the Ministry of Energy announced that it has made the decision to halt the 50 dam projects, due to an increase in the evaporation of water resources resulting from climate change.
A report by the Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA) said climate change is also driving air pollution and the drying of wetlands throughout the country. A top Iranian environment official has lambasted the country’s Sixth Development Plan as detrimental to soil and water resources.
“Such plans are forced on the government without taking soil and water capacities into account,” said Issa Kalantari, head of the Environmental Protection Agency.
At a ceremony celebrating World Soil Day, he said Iran’s limited water and soil resources were endangering its ability to feed the country’s population of more than 80 million.
“Stop repeating the shibboleth and saying our country is great,” Kalantari has said against those who promote population growth, noting, “Our resources are limited. If we are going to have a larger population, we should do it in tandem with our imports.”
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenehi is the main proponent of population growth. In 2014, he issued an edict obliging the heads of Iran’s ruling system to reduce the legal age for marriage and encourage families to have more children.
Kalantari had previously warned, “Iran’s 8,000-year-old civilization will be destroyed if the scale of our water consumption is not reduced.”
He further warned that if Iran does not change its approach to water use, the result would be mass migration.
“If water consumption for agriculture remains at this level, in less than 25 years Iran’s eastern and southern areas will be completely deserted, and 50 million people will have to emigrate,” he said.
