TEHRAN
The temperatures above 40 degrees celcius could be the reason for a upcoming water crisis in Iran. Former Iranian Minister of Agriculture Issa Kalantari said if this situation was not reformed, Iran will become a desert in 30 years.
Iranian officials asked the public to use the water very carefully. The temperature in the Iranian capital was about 43 degrees and the water volumen which used per day was about 3.500 million cubic meter. The load factor of the dam was announced as 25,700 billion cubic meter last week, but there were evaluations which draw a possible crisis in the region.
Kalantari says, the water crisis is the "main problem that threatens us, that is more dangerous than Israel, America or political fighting, is the issue of living in Iran. It is that the Iranian plateau is becoming uninhabitable (…) groundwater has decreased and a negative water balance is widespread, and no one is thinking about this.”
Kalantari said, "If this situation is not reformed, in 30 years Iran will be a ghost land. Even if there is precipitation in the desert, there will be no yield, because the area for groundwater will dry out and water will remain at ground level and evaporate."
Kalantari underlined that all the sources of natural water in Iran were drying up: Lake Urumieh, Bakhtegan, Tashak, Parishan and others and that he anticipates a crisis.
Kalantari said that the "deserts in Iran are spreading, and I am warning you that South Alborz and East Zagros will be uninhabitable and people will have to migrate. But where? Easily I can say that of the 75 million people in Iran, 45 million will have uncertain circumstances."
