# Iran Faces Imminent Water Bankruptcy
Decades of mismanagement compounded by prolonged drought have pushed Iran to the brink of what experts call water bankruptcy.
With reservoirs running on empty and rainfall at a record low, the authorities have begun rationing water supplies in the Iranian capital, Tehran, a city of some 10 million people.
President Masud Pezeshkian has warned that the water crisis could lead to the evacuation of parts of Tehran and has gone as far as floating the possibility of moving the capital.
Kaveh Madani, director of the Canada-based United Nations University institute for Water, Environment, and Health, said the warnings by the authorities didn’t go far enough.”The level of their warnings is too low compared to the reality on the ground,” madani, who previously served as deputy head of Iran’s Department of Environment, told RFE/RL’s radio Farda.
“The government is being too cautious because it doesn’t want to stress the public and upset people even more,” he added.
Water bankruptcy is when consumption exceeds supply and the depletion of resources is irreversible.It is indeed frequently enough driven by what experts say is misguided government policies intended to boost agriculture and growth.
How Bad Is Iran’s Water Crisis?
Iran is currently in the grips of the worst drought in some 60 years.
“If it doesn’t rain, we’ll have to start rationing water in [November]. If the lack of rainfall continues past that, we simply won’t have water and will have to evacuate Tehran,” Pezeshkian said earlier this month, though other officials have sought to downplay the need to move the capital.
Since last week, water supplies have been cut off in the evenings in Tehran. The authorities have also called on people to curb consumption during the day. Water rationing has not yet been reported in other parts of Iran.
The five main reservoirs supplying water to Tehran are at historically low levels, currently holding just 11 percent of overall capacity.
In Mashhad, Iran’s second-largest city with 4 million residents, reservoirs have fallen below 3 percent capacity, with three of the four dams supplying the city now out of operation.
Nationwide, 19 major dams — accounting for 10 percent of Iran’s reservoirs — have run wholly dry, and more than 20 dams are holding under 5 percent of their capacity.