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RFL/RE – Residents of Tehran are reporting a fifth consecutive day of water cuts despite government claims that a shortage, which last year sparked demonstrations in many areas of the country, had been resolved.
Energy Minister Ali Akbar Mehrabian said on June 13 that, while the issue had been taken care of, residents should conserve water as much as possible until levels return to normal in the near term. The ministry has said a large mass of rock and mud ended up on the bed of the Karaj River because of a landslide and subsequent flooding last week, cutting off the water connection to Tehran and Karaj.
The news website Entekhab, however, reported that residents from various areas in Tehran, including Aryashahr, Sattarkhan, Gisha, Ashrafi Esfahani, Haft Tir, Talghani, Gholhak, and Narmak, said they were still experiencing water cuts.
The website also criticized the government for failing to explain the situation.
A source within the Energy Ministry was quoted by the Tehran-based news site Khabar Online as saying that the delay in restoring water to the capital was due to the high turbidity of the water in the Amir Kabir Dam following the landslide.
The source added that reducing the turbidity — caused by particles in the water — will be a gradual and time-consuming process and that water cuts will continue “in a managed manner” in the coming days.
Diminishing water supplies are seen as an existential threat to Iran, where poor water management, drought, and corruption-ridden infrastructure projects have contributed to water scarcity.
Mohammad Reza Bakhtiari, the former CEO of Tehran Water and Wastewater, says that while “about one-fifth of the urban drinking water is wasted due to a worn-out water supply network,” officials keep saying the solution to the crisis in Tehran is “conservation by consumers.”
The situation mirrors that in many cities across the country where water shortages — and protests over the crisis — are becoming more commonplace.
Experts say climate change has amplified the droughts and floods plaguing Iran and that their intensity and frequency threaten food security.
The Iranian Meteorological Organization has estimated that 97 percent of the country is experiencing drought to some degree.
Mismanagement by authorities has also been cited as a leading cause for the water crisis.
