TEHRAN - A climate expert, Naser Karami, has called the water crisis is Iran “extremely serious and dramatic.’

In an interview with IRNA news agency published on Sunday, Karami suggests that the only way out of the problem is to break the back of the beast through a nationwide strict scheme.
He predicted that “soon we will face a flood of immigrants caused by the droughts”.
That Iran might turn into Somalia is not unlikely, warned Karami who teaches at the University of Bergen, Norway.

Thousands of Iranian villages are facing shortage of potable water, the professor said, adding that water tankers are now the sole means of water supply for villagers. That means agriculture or animal husbandry have either stopped or will soon, Karami warned.

He explained that the drinking water accounts for 2 to 4 percent of water consumption from which 30 percent is wasted due to the broken water supply system.

According to Karami, at best citizens can help lessen the effects of water crisis only by one percent.

Farming lands which consume 90 percent of the water resources have already faced a water crisis, he added.

-----Conserving water is a necessity----

A reform in water management in Iran is not an option rather it is a “costly” and “obligatory” decision which should be taken soon, he emphasized.

Karami pointed out that the government must stop the production of certain crops in the country and to do so a number of farmers will face unemployment and the government has to create new jobs for them and this is viable by allocating a substantial budget and raising foreign fund.

Now that a situation has been created for lifting sanctions against Iran it is possible to lessen the effects of drought, he noted.

Karami suggested that it is essential to reduce water consumption by two thirds in Iran and this entails a “strict” nationwide scheme.

To do so it is required to cease using hundreds of thousands of agricultural water wells in different regions, he suggested.

The hardships of such drastic changes should be equally divided nationwide otherwise there would be great dispute over water in different areas.

He cited the construction of Gotvand Dam as a wrong decision, saying in order to save the Khuzestan plain it is crucial to demolish the dam as soon as possible.

The dam is an embankment on the Karun River about 12 km northeast of Gotvand in Khuzestan Province.

To save great deal of Iran’s plains, rivers, and lakes many other dams should be demolished likewise.

The climate change expert said a dry country like Iran has a vulnerable ecosystem therefore soil erosion is inevitable and in a domino effect the whole country will be endangered.

It is terrifying to accept such a situation which is about to start, but it is important to overcome the fear and surrender to the new situation, he concluded.

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It is terrifying to accept an era of infertility is about to start, Iranian climate scientist