Mass Migration Threatens Iran Due to Acute Water Scarcity
iran-hamedan-watershortage3
Written by
Mahmoud Hakamian
Amid the escalating water scarcity crisis across different parts of Iran, Ali Ahmadzadeh, the governor of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province disclosed on August 17 that certain villages in the province have already been deserted due to “water tension.”
Although endowed with a 10% share of the nation’s water resources, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province is currently grappling with a severe water shortage. Though unfortunately, the province is far from being an exception.
In recent years, widespread inadequacy of water, particularly in central and southern regions of Iran, has sparked consecutive and extensive protests among the populace, expressing discontent with the government’s inefficient water management.
In August 2021, concerned about the potential threat posed to the regime’s stability, the chairman of the parliamentary Water Security Committee criticized the government’s water management. He highlighted that certain factions within the government have been involved in extensive and illicit water exploitation for years, leading to the deterioration of areas in provinces such as Lorestan, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, and Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad. These actions, he argued, have been driven by influential lobbying and the exertion of power.
July 2021-Thursday marked the 8th consecutive day of protests in Khuzestan province over water shortages and the Iranian regime’s destructive policies.#Iran #IranProtests pic.twitter.com/wUEBhad5P8
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) July 22, 2021
Reported by Kerman-No, a member of the academic faculty at Shahid Bahonar University in Kerman, southeast Iran, addressed the drought crisis, emphasizing that the sharp decline in our freshwater resources poses a serious threat to the future of central Iranian cities, particularly Kerman.
Continuing, he highlighted the findings of future-oriented research in this area, indicating that in the next 25 years, the southern region of Iran will likely become uninhabitable due to water scarcity.
The crisis isn’t limited to the southern region of the nation either. According to the state-run Salamatnews website, due to the desiccation of Lake Urmia and the subsequent salt storms imperiling the area, numerous areas within the northwestern city of Tabriz might need to be evacuated.
On July 23, reporting from the central Fars province and admitting to systemic mismanagement of water resources, the state-run Fars news agency wrote, “Amid the neglect of water and soil authorities in Iran’s agricultural hub, the unchecked cultivation of water-intensive crops continues, leading to the depletion of water resources. Alongside excessive dam construction and the establishment of water-intensive factories in arid regions, these practices are the primary culprits behind the depletion of water resources in Fars Province.”
Fars also quoted the secretary of the International Marsh Restoration Organization in Khuzestan as saying that “the depopulation of villages, forced and imposed migrations are due to the depletion of water resources who are the result of the negligence of responsible authorities who were unable to properly handle their duties.”
The state-affiliated publication Arman-e-Melli has also underscored the compounded impacts of drought and water scarcity, which are driving people to leave their hometowns in search of places less affected by water crises.
November 19 – Isfahan, central #Iran
Thousands of locals are joining farmers protesting for their share of water from the local Zayandeh-rud River. Regime officials have long rerouted the waters for their own purposes.#IranProtests#اعتراضات_سراسریpic.twitter.com/OCnuGUSEYM— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) November 19, 2021
Notably, as the source reveals, the residents of Bukan in Kurdistan Province are grappling with a mere 8 hours of water availability per day. From the desiccation of Heshilan Marsh in Kermanshah to the unsettling phenomenon of land subsidence, observed extensively in regions like Isfahan, Yazd, and Tehran, these circumstances have collectively led to widespread evacuations from areas under threat.
In 2021, Mostafa Fadaie-Fard, the head of the Special Committee for Flood Assessment and a water expert, warned, “The most foreseeable consequences of land subsidence, in addition to the destruction of aquifers and the decline of renewable water sources, include extensive damage to infrastructure such as roads, railways, water transmission lines, oil and gas pipelines, power towers, urban and rural areas, and ultimately, the forced displacement of over 37 million people in the country.”
Iran’s critical water shortage is primarily attributed to mismanagement and the involvement of entities like the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in various water-intensive industries. The IRGC’s control over sectors such as nuclear plants and steel production has resulted in excessive water consumption, exacerbating the water crisis. Additionally, the construction of numerous dams without proper scientific planning has further contributed to the problem, often driven by profit motives for the IRGC rather than sustainable water management.